Teenager Claims She Was Dropped From School Sports Team - Because She's Pregnant

Teenager Claims She Was Dropped From School Sports Team - Because She's Pregnant

A teenager is making headlines in the USA by claiming she was dropped from her school volleyball team because she is pregnant.

Mackenzie McCollum, 17, from Texas, says her coach stopped picking her so often after he found out she was expecting a baby.

She apparently had a doctor's note saying she was perfectly healthy and could play without any problems.

Mackenzie has appeared on Good Morning America telling her story and her mother Barbara Horton has filed complaints against the school district.

She says the school discriminated against her daughter on the basis of her sex and the government has opened an investigation of the case.

Gender discrimination is banned in athletics by a federal law.

Horton said: "My goal is for them to change their policies to include pregnant athletes, to nurture pregnant athletes, and to make sure that these athletes are successful."

However the Fort Worth Independent School District says it was just worried about the health and safety of the teenager.

The district released a statement to ABC News, saying: "The Fort Worth Independent School District is restricted by law from discussing specific cases involving students.

"However, we believe our foremost concern through the entirety of this episode has been for the safety and the rights of the student. We strongly contend neither the student's rights, district policy, state or federal law has been violated."

Mackenzie told Good Morning America: "He (the coach) told me that he always does this before people move up and before the seniors leave, and then I looked on the court and everyone else was still there.

"I felt like this was the one thing that I could count on ... that everything would be OK and everything would work out and then that, too, was taken away, so it made me feel like I was kind of left with nothing to really count on."

The case has divided the teenager's Texas community. What do you think? Should she be allowed to continue playing?

Source: ParentdishUS

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