Level field: Idaho girl can still play on boys' team

• By Will Gray
• Sep 26, 2012 3:12 PM ET

Attending a small high school in Idaho, golfer Sierra Harr did not have a girls' golf team to join last year, so she did the next best thing - she played with the boys. When Harr's Castleford High School team won the 2012 2A state championship, rival coaches took exception and a rule change was proposed that would have blocked Harr's future participation.

This week, the board overseeing Idaho high school sports decided by an 11-1 vote that they would not prevent Harr, a 16-year-old junior, from playing on the boys' team if her school doesn't have enough girls to create a team of their own.

"Nothing's changed, everything is back to the way it was," said executive director John Billetz, noting that Harr's situation is so infrequent, it does not merit a major change. "The bottom line was, this is something that was just like an anomaly."

If enough girls turn out at Castleford to create a girls' team in 2013, Harr will play with them; if not, she can compete for a spot on the boys' team.

"If you believe in something...you should stand up for it," said Harr, who won the girls' individual state title by six strokes as a freshman when her school still fielded a girls' team. Currently the No. 3 ranked female golfer in Idaho, Harr carries a 2.2 handicap.