Mili Hernandez is just 8 years old but plays soccer as well as the 11-year-olds who are on her team.
The Nebraska athlete, who’s been playing since she was 5 and dreams of going professional one day, wears her hair short — a decision her dad made years ago to keep his active daughter’s hair out of her face.
And because of that short hair, Mili’s entire team was recently banned from a soccer tournament in Nebraska.
Officials thought she was a boy.
"Just because I look like a boy doesn't mean I am a boy," Mili Hernandez told local TV station WOWT 6. "They don't have a reason to kick the whole club out."
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Gerardo Hernandez, Mili’s father, said she started to cry after they heard of the officials’ decision. He showed the tournament organizers her health insurance card and physical forms to prove she’s not a boy.
"We showed them all different types of IDs,” her sister Alina Hernandez told KMTV. "The president of the tournament said that they had made their decision and he wouldn't change it. Even though we had an insurance card and documentation that showed she is a female."
Still, officials didn't reverse their decision and the team was banned from playing.
"They didn't want to listen. They said the president made his decision and there wasn't any changing that,” Mili’s brother, Cruz, told WOWT.
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Officials later said they made the decision based off a typo on the team’s roster, which listed Mili as a boy. Mili’s coach Mario Torres said the typo was made by the tournament’s registrar.
Torres said: "Even if it was a mistake, they did not need to humiliate her or kick the entire team off the field."
While Hernandez’s team didn’t get to keep competing, there is a silver lining to the story.
Soccer legend Mia Hamm heard Mili’s story and sent a tweet inviting her to attend her soccer camp.
Hey Mili, we would love to host you at one of our camps @TeamFirstSA . Be you!
— Mia Hamm (@MiaHamm) June 5, 2017
And soccer pro Abby Wambach tweeted “Mili, don’t EVER let anyone tell you that you aren’t perfect just as you are.”
Mili, don't EVER let anyone tell you that you aren't perfect just as you are.i won championships with short hair https://t.co/WlfL3EIPic
— Abby Wambach (@AbbyWambach) June 5, 2017
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