Spanish girl with Down's syndrome excluded from volleyball team

[Max @ CSBD]

 

A 14-year-old girl with Down's syndrome in Spain has been told she cannot play for her team in a national volleyball competition because she is a year older than her teammates.

Laia, who has played for the Esplugues Volleyball Club in Barcelona for eight years, is too old to meet the criteria.

The rules of the Spanish Volleyball Cup mean she can still participate, but in a team of a different age group.

The decision has angered her parents and teams have threatened to withdraw.

Laia's mother, Marta Montserrat, said the organisers of the competition should make an exception for the "common benefit" of allowing her daughter to play with the team she has been a part of since 2011.

"The goal with [players] of these groups is to promote personal growth and self-esteem, to promote teamwork," she wrote in a series of Twitter posts, pointing out that there has never been an issue with Laia playing in her usual league.

Edited April 19, 2020 by -Dark
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