One Pittsburgh-area mother says she was told her child cannot play football this season, even after he’d spent weeks preparing for game action.<\/p>\n
The South Hills Youth Football League has reinstated a weight limit it had voted to eliminate months ago. The league says rule reinstatement is about safety.<\/p>\n
His mom says she understands that concern, but questions why families found out only after the season was already underway.<\/p>\n
“‘Hey, I hate to tell you this, [but] your son can’t play football.’ Take a moment, right?” explained mother Ashley Farkas.<\/p>\n
After weeks of practice, her sixth-grade son’s season was suddenly over.<\/p>\n
In April, the South Hills Youth Football League voted 7-0 to eliminate the maximum weight for sixth-grade players.<\/p>\n
For months, that’s the rule families planned around.<\/p>\n
“May went through, June went through, July, no comments, nobody brought up anything,” said Nicholas Jeremiah, vice president of the Canon-McMillan Little Macs youth football program.<\/p>\n
The kids practiced, they scrimmaged, families paid dues, bought uniforms and took team pictures.<\/p>\n
Then came Sunday and weigh-ins.<\/p>\n
After an emergency meeting that night, the league reinstated a maximum weight of 205 pounds, sidelining Farkas’ son, who weighed 215 pounds.<\/p>\n
“He’s very distraught. He’s upset. He doesn’t think it’s fair,” Farkas said.<\/p>\n
At his first practice after getting the news, Farkas says he was so embarrassed he wouldn’t get out of the car.<\/p>\n
A coach walked over, got him out and brought him onto the field.<\/p>\n
“He did get out of the car; he came down to the field, and they all clapped and they all came in and gave a big hug.”<\/p>\n
He can still practice, he can still go to the games and if he gets down to 205 pounds, he can play.<\/p>\n
“He doesn’t want to hurt other kids. He knows that if I send someone to the hospital, it’s on me. He’s very cautious about that,” Farkas said.<\/p>\n
The team’s vice president says he’s now trying to find common ground with the league, hoping there’s still a way to get the player back in the game.<\/p>\n
“I’m hoping to get some kind of response. This weekend is our first scrimmage, and then we open up for our first game next weekend,” Jeremiah said.<\/p>\n
The new rule reportedly doesn’t affect just one player; three sixth-graders are now sidelined due to the new weight limit.<\/p>\n
\n More from CBS News\n <\/p>\n