OMAHA, NE (WOWT/CNN) – A Nebraska family says they are angry over the way a soccer tournament treated their 8-year-old daughter’s team.
The family says Mili Hernandez’s team was disqualified because organizers thought she was a boy.
Mili loves soccer, and she loves her short haircut.
“When my hair starts to grow, I put it short because I always had short hair. So I don’t like my hair long,” she said.
Mili plays for Oraha’s Azzuri Cachorros girls club team. She’s so good, even though she’s only 8, she plays on the 11-year-old roster. Her dad could not be more proud.
“It’s what she likes. It’s what she always wants to do, to play soccer,” said Geraldo Hernandez.
Last weekend, Mili led her team to the finals of the Springfield Soccer Club Girls Tournament.
But on Sunday, before taking the field, Mili and her team were suddenly disqualified because organizers believed she was a boy.
“She was in shock,” her father said. “She even was crying after they told us.”
Mili was crying not just for herself.
“Just because I look like a boy doesn’t mean I am a boy, but they don’t have a reason to kick out the whole team,” she said.
Her brother said the tournament officials would not hear them out. The family showed them Mili's insurance card, which clearly identified her as female.
“They didn’t want to listen,” Cruz Hernandez said. “They said the president had made his decision and there wasn’t any changing that.”
Mili said she felt she was treated unfairly. But it’s not going to stop her from playing.
“Just because I can’t play here, there’s other tournaments that I can play,” she said.
Springfield Soccer Club organizers would not comment, but did say Mili’s family can appeal the ruling to the Nebraska State Soccer Association.
Copyright 2017 WOWT via CNN. All rights reserved.
