A boy has been a major contributor to the Peabody High School girls' field hockey team – and he's scored nearly half of his team's goals this season.

Senior captain Christopher Troncoso has been a valuable contributor to his team this fall, playing all four positions: forward, midfielder, defender, and goalkeeper.

"Even though Chris picked up a stick for the first time last year, he has become an essential part to the tanner’s success on the field," a post from the Peabody girls' field hockey Instagram account says. "He’s shown to be an amazing leader and versatile player playing every position on the field and even playing in the goal!"

Peabody’s girls’ field hockey team is struggling this season — Peabody was 2-15-0 as of the start of this week, according to Arbiter Live.

The team had scored 23 goals in those 17 games. Troncosco has scored 11 of those 23 goals; that's 47.8 percent of the team's goals this season. He also has five assists, according to Community Newspaper Holdings. In net, he has also recorded 63 saves, the same stat database shows.

Troncosco's best offensive performance of the season came on September 15 against Malden High School. He scored a team-high three goals in the 8-0 victory. And while he's the team's leading scorer, he has also made two starts in net this season.

This includes a 7-0 loss to Melrose on October 10, where he made 42 saves, earning praise from Salem News sports editor Phil Stacey.

"Stepping in to play goalie this afternoon, senior captain Chris Troncoso of the Peabody High field hockey team made an incredible 42 saves in a 7-0 loss to Melrose," Stacey posted on X (Twitter).

The state allows boys to play girls' sports due to the 1979 Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision in Attorney General v. Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. The court ruled that the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association's policy of the time, which stated "No boy may play on a girls' team," was, in its view, unconstitutional. The court said that it violated the Equal Rights Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution.

Here is what the Equal Rights Amendment of the Massachusetts Constitution says:

All people are born free and equal and have certain natural, essential and unalienable rights; among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness. Equality under the law shall not be denied or abridged because of sex, race, color, creed or national origin.

 

The Equal Rights Amendment was on the newer side at the time of that decision. It passed at the ballot box in the November 1976 general election; 60.4 percent of Bay State voters supported it, while 39.6 percent opposed it, according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth's office. Every county in Massachusetts voted in favor of the proposed amendment.

In the fall 2022 season, 216 Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association member schools statewide had field hockey teams; 66 boys played for those teams, according to participation survey data from the MIAA.

Peabody High School’s athletic director could not be reached for comment this past weekend.