Elijah Earnheart, a 12-year-old boy in Texas who stands more than 6
feet tall and weighs nearly 300 pounds, has been told that he's too big
to play pee-wee football.
According to MyFoxDFW.com,
Elijah practiced for three weeks with the Mesquite Vikings, but at a
preseason weigh-in Sunday he was told that he's too big and isn't
allowed to play in the league and must play in the school league with
players older than him.
The league's president says the rule is any seventh-grader more than 135 pounds is barred.
"I
don't want to play in school right now because it's people that's had
experience and I want to get some experience first and then start
playing," Elijah said. "I just want to play because my teammates are my
friends. I know them. I don't want to go play for somebody else I don't
know."
Elijah's mother Cindy said the ruling has really upset her son, and she plans to protest.
"For
him to come home and just cry and go to his room and say, 'I give up.'
I'm not going to let him give up. This is his dream. This is what he
wants to do. And I'm going to make it happen," she said.
Mesquite Pee-Wee Football Association President Ronnie Henderson said a few other players were barred for the same reason.
"The
coach over there should have known this. He's been told this. He's
been to our meetings. He knows this," Henderson said. "I don't know
where the misunderstanding was. We hate it. I don't like it for the kid
or the parents."
USA Today