Quakertown field hockey player drops PIAA suit

A Quakertown high school senior has decided to drop a lawsuit challenging the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association's recently adopted gender rules that prevented him from joining the varsity field hockey team.

Joshua Schwarz had been playing on the junior varsity squad when he filed for a preliminary injunction against the PIAA's rules, but has left the team with no reason given for the decision.

The suit alleged the new rules discriminated against Schwarz's gender and violated the equal protection clause of the Pennsylvania Constitution.

Under the new rules, boys may play on a girls’ team as long as they do not displace girls from the team or increase the risk of injury to opponents. If a team has a mixed gender roster, however, they must compete against other boys teams.

The Quakertown school board voted to ban Schwarz from the team in order to keep the squad competing against the other girls team in the league.

The PIAA has also voted to sanction boys field hockey teams at the high school level, but there are no such programs currently available at Quakertown High School.