EXCLUSIVE: Bronx high school girl barred from playing on boys' volleyball team considers lawsuit
A teen girl’s battle for a spot on her Bronx high school boys’ varsity team may be moving from the volleyball court to a court of law.
High school volleyball star Anyela Acquino is seen in her neighborhood in the Bronx on March 25.
Volleyball phenom Anyela Aquino has a lawyer to help her on her quest to join the boys varsity team at Taft Educational Campus.
While the boys’ team coach and players want Anyala on the team, the city Department of Education’s Public Schools Athletic League has blocked the move.
“The regulations are very ambiguous,” says attorney Robert D. Siano, who is laying the groundwork for taking the DOE to court over the Aquino’s exclusion.
“We will be reaching out to Bronx high school superintendent Carron Staple this week in an attempt receive her approval to allow Anyela to continue her pursuit of her dream,” Siano tells the News.
If he’s not successful, he’s ready to go to court.
Gardiner Anderson/for New York Daily News
The city Department of Education’s Public Schools Athletic League has blocked Aquino from joining the boys' volleyball team at Taft Educational Campus.
Siano said he intends to file a petition in Bronx Supreme Court, seeking a court order preventing the PSAL from removing Aquino from the roster of the boys’ team.
The attorney wants a judge to consider whether the PSAL’s eligibility review committee discriminated against Aquino.
DOE spokesperson Toya Holness says that the PSAL’s goal is to provide a maximum number of opportunities for students.
Aquino would in theory take a roster spot of a deserving male player, even though the coaches and players of the boys' team at Taft are said to strongly support Aquino’s bid to join them.
Every boy who tried out for Taft’s varsity team earlier this year made it, a source close to the team said.
Holness noted that Aquino has yet to file an administrative appeal of the decision. Siano says she hasn’t been able to because she has not yet received a written decision.
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