MADISON COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — A Madison County mom is outraged soon after she suggests her young daughter was warned not to have hair beads in her hair or possibility currently being excluded from recreational soccer functions in what she considers a racially inspired incident.
Alecia Clay told Information 19 that her 8-12 months-outdated daughter Anslie was finding a kick out of her to start with period of recreational soccer in north Madison County’s chapter of American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO), immediately after also having fun with different other sports.
“She’s manufactured some really great friendships out of it and, up until finally this issue, all has been very well,” Clay said.
Clay explained two months following getting Anslie’s hair braided with smaller beads for her birthday, the AYSO soccer mentor took the baby aside by itself for the duration of a exercise.
“With no parental steering at all…she was informed that if she wished to engage in on Saturday she would have to choose her hair down or she could not engage in,” Clay said. “He then proceeded to refer to her as ‘the noisy-haired minimal girl’ in entrance of the complete workforce all over that observe and ultimately humiliated my daughter and embarrassed her to the issue exactly where she wasn’t comfy actively playing. The other teammates would join in with teasing, having from the coach’s instance.”
Clay said she has not gained assistance from other parents in the league considering that the incident, and that the league supplied minor resolution.
“That director instructed me that finally he was sorry my daughter knowledgeable that, but with it remaining so late in the season their palms have been tied, there was very little he could do,” Clay explained.
AYSO makes use of worldwide soccer governing physique FIFA to interpret basic safety policies such as hair ornaments, and in this article it is mentioned as jewelry that could be regarded unsafe.
However, quite a few youth athletics governing bodies in other states have rescinded bans on hair beads in modern decades soon after outcries of racial insensitivity.
The director of north Madison County’s chapter of AYSO referred News 19 to its countrywide places of work in California, which sent a assertion reading,
“AYSO is fully commited to be an inclusive business, but we regret how this predicament has been taken care of with Ms. Clay and her daughter. It is in no way our intention to make any participant, dad or mum or volunteer feel excluded or singled out. We realize the sensitivity of this issue and other individuals like it, and are fully commited to educating and instruction our volunteers to ensure this does not take place in the future. We will keep on to dialogue with Ms. Clay to uncover a resolution.”
For Clay, any strategies introduced forth in the upcoming will not mend the emotional damage she says is now impacting her daughter.
“You can give me my money back at this position, but you are not able to give me my daughter’s spirit again. You can not give me my daughter’s enjoy for the game back again. You are not able to give my daughter her love for her hair again to her. And now I as a guardian – I’m remaining to maintenance these emotional damages and trauma ultimately.”
This write-up was updated to incorporate a precise report reference the place AYSO lists hair ornaments this sort of as hair beads as a perhaps perilous entire body decoration.
