On paper, one would think the Pleasant Valley field hockey team has a lot to look forward to this season. The Bears did, after all, advance to the District 11 Class AAA final, in addition to qualifying for the PIAA AAA tournament under then-first-year head coach and PV grad Jessica Frantz.

With a number of playmakers returning from that 16-9 squad and a fresh start coming this year in the newly formed Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, the Bears certainly seemed to have plenty of reasons to be optimistic.But PV suffered a setback before the season began when the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association overhauled its gender rules for boys' and girls' sports teams in late June. The modifications were spurred by large instances in which boys were playing field hockey or volleyball, both of which are traditionally girls' sports, because their schools didn't offer those teams for boys.A casualty of the ruling was the Bears' Johnny Schmid, who will be forced to take up another sport this fall because of the PIAA's decision."It's very disappointing," Frantz said. "He picked the game up and improved so quickly in just one year, and he really played a key role in our success last season. I think he really could have helped us even more this year."Disappointment aside, the decision to keep Schmid off the team was a relatively easy one."It's a no-brainer. If a boy plays on a girls' team, they can't participate in districts or states," Pleasant Valley athletic director Jake Percey said of the potential ramifications. "And that's the bottom line. Even if they qualify, they can't participate, and you can't do that to the team."And the resolution is one Percey said Schmid was on board with and informed of by the school."We talked to Johnny ahead of time, and he knew that this was something that could happen," Percey said of the situation. "He was well aware of it and completely fine with it."While the advantages of having a boy on the team might seem obvious, Frantz said that wasn't necessarily the case with Schmid."Since he just started last year, I really had to coach him a little more (than some of the girls) and teach him certain aspects of the game," she said. "I told him that he needed to know the rules of the game and really understand it before he could start playing."While Schmid might have been lacking some basic knowledge of the sport, he showed he was still more than capable of contributing."If we did have one advantage with him on the field it might have been with his speed since he's such a good athlete," Frantz said. "But the fact that he was able to pick up the fundamentals in one year was really impressive."Frantz also said it's not just Schmid's skill that will be difficult to replace."He totally changed the atmos"He totally changed the atmosphere of the team," she said. "It was refreshing to have him here because it really broke the day-to-day things up. He's definitely going to be missed."As far as future considerations for having boys play on field hockey teams of their own or with girls, Frantz is one who's in favor of it."I really think the PIAA should look into it," she said. "I played with and have been in camps with guys in high school and was coached by males in college."Obviously, the sport is very competitive at any level, and being able to work with and play against someone that offers a different skill set can be very beneficial. I think it's a really good things to have guys in the sport."Regardless of the circumstances or the situation, Schmid is sure to find his way onto a field this coming fall."I think he's going to play football this year," Percey said of Schmid. "And knowing him, I'm sure he'll do just fine."