ALMA (KFSM)- A local child is trying to figure out what’s next after being told little league football is not an option.
That’s because the hopeful player is a girl.
9-year-old Trinity Transue said she is determined to play football.
“My parents made me wait two years until I could play football,” Transue said.
Her parents said when league directors called last week her dream to play took a turn. Her parents said directors informed them that she was ineligible because of her gender.
“Why not this year? Girls can play football. I`m pretty sure boys play cheerleading,” Transue said.
5NEWS asked her mother if she is concerned about potential injuries.
"I'm a little nervous about the boys,” Trinity’s mother Jessica Transue said. “She tackles hard. She's a bulldozer, she can take her older brother down.”
League Director Dustin Willis told 5NEWS the league is a privately funded organization.
Willis said girls are not allowed to play for safety reasons. Girls are offered the opportunity to participate in cheerleading.
As for Trinity, her game for now is in a timeout.
“I would be excited, happy, I`d be eager to play,” Transue said.
The Transue family said they plan to start a petition.
"Making up a petition and we are going to take it to the games with us," Trinity's father Brooks Transue said. "Sit out in front of the gates all day and try and get as much parents and people to sign it for us."
Dracinda Clark is the little league director in Mountainburg.
"We do allow girls to play football," Clark said. "I believe it's not our place to tell them no. If there parents are OK with it that's there choice. When they sign up they are expected to play the same as the boys."
Despite the rules Trinity hopes to play soon.
