Soccer-loving Lynsi Horn may take the Football Association to court after being barred from playing for a boys' team, writes Paul Warner.

Lynsi, of Thames Avenue, Bicester, has played for Highfield Boys teams for the past four years, but can no longer turn out for the club after reaching her 11th birthday the age at which FA rules say there cannot be mixed sides of boys and girls. The defensive midfielder, who has been a key member of the club's sides from under-seven to under-ten age groups, now hopes to get the law changed. Lynsi, who was voted the manager's player of the year for the Highfield under-nine and under-eight teams, will now have to find an all-girls' side if she wants to continue playing.

Lynsi, a former Glory Farm Primary School pupil, said: "I've been playing football since I was six. I'm a bit upset and I think the law is stupid. I hope we can get the law changed." Her mother, Kathy Horn, is hoping to follow the example of a Welsh girl who was stopped from playing for a boys' team because of her age.

Caroline Hulme, 11, took her case to the Welsh Assembly earlier in the summer because she was banned from playing for her local side Denbigh Town. The Welsh FA has since changed the controversial rule and now allows mixed teams up to 16.

Mrs Horn, who played for the Launton Ladies' football team 25 years ago, said: "I think the FA needs to get in step with their Welsh counterparts." She added: "We're into the new Millennium and it appears no progress has been made. Taking the Football Association to court is certainly one of the considerations at the moment."

If Lynsi was a boy, she would still be eligible to play for the under-11s team, as she was not 11 until the cut-off date July 31.

Jane Prpa, the manager of the under-11s team, said it was hypocritical that a woman could manage the team, but a girl could not play. She said: "Lynsi is probably one of the best in the side, if not the best. Because she has short hair, people find it hard to believe she is a girl because she is so good."

A FA spokesman admitted the law appeared draconian, but said it was there to promote girls' football. She said the law had been introduced to encourage more girls' football teams to be set up, rather than because of issues of gender.

She said: "Women's football is the fastest developing sport in this country. In 1993, there were only 80 female football teams in this country, but now there are 1,200. "If the rule was not there, it would be very difficult for girls to play the game because it would be difficult for them to get into teams dominated by boys."