4:00 p.m. Wednesday May 20. It was a quiet, humid, spring day in City Hall Park. Kids sucked on popsicles and sat on the edge of the fountain while adults relaxed in the lush oasis of downtown New York.

4:30 p.m. Girls in different colored soccer jerseys had been trickling in for half an hour and now filled the small park. Interspersed in the crowd were boys in soccer and football jerseys. However, all were there for the same reason: to protest the Public School Athletic League’s (PSAL) changing the girls’ soccer schedule from spring to fall.

Robert Sprance, coach of the boys’ and girls’ varsity soccer teams at Forest Hills High School, picked up his megaphone and the march began. The protesters snaked in and out of the park and around City Hall chanting, “No ball in the fall!” There were signs that read, “Spring in, Fall Back,” and “No fall Soccer!”

The decision to change the girls’ soccer season came on Friday, January 16 after the PSAL faced pressure from parents of a few girls’ soccer players and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) arguing that the different seasons for boys and girls soccer was in violation of Title IX, a federal law guaranteeing gender equality in education.

Most colleges recruiting high school athletes scout players from private club teams which play in the spring. This conflict leaves many athletes having to play for their school and their club teams at the same time, risking injury with excessive practicing and games. The NYCLU followed through with a lawsuit on behalf of three students from Beacon High School, School of the Future and Bronx High School of Science who believed that the scheduling conflict would hurt their chances of being recruited.

Another negative outcome of the change would be increased competition for field space between the many fall teams. Ed Coyne, coach of the Fort Hamilton High School girls’ varsity soccer team, said, “If the girls’ season was changed to the fall, there would not be enough practice facilities or field availability for games. Varsity and JV football, boys’ soccer, and girls’ soccer, would all be competing for one field.”

The Susan Wagner High School Falcons varsity football team arrived at the protest in uniform to march alongside the soccer players. They were joined by the George Washington High School varsity football team. “The girls’ soccer season in the fall would not leave anyone with enough time to practice for games. Then you are risking injury and the level of play suffers. Most coaches are actually against the change,” said Fred Caprista, coach of the varsity football team at George Washington. Most members of the Mimbas, Stuyvesant’s girls’ varsity soccer team, are also opposed to the season change. Some players will have to choose between two sports, because they can no longer play both. “I know that some of our players will have to decide between soccer and other sports, and as a result we’re going to lose a few,” senior Julia Sterling said.

The Mimbas, who already compete for practice space at Pier 40, will feel these effects even more if the season change is allowed.”It’s also going to make scheduling games more difficult,” Sterling said. “We’re going to have to play weekend games because of field availability, and I imagine practice space is going to be a lot harder to find.”

Many coaches, like Sprance, coach both boys’ and girls’ soccer teams. If the season change does not get overturned, new coaches will need to be hired. Referees will also be in short supply when the number of games in the fall increases. “It’s not fair that every girl should have to lose out because of three girls. Most of these girls have had to give up so much just to play and this is why they are all here, to save spring soccer. This is what it means,” Sprance said, pointing to the endless procession of athletes.