Mili Hernandez

A team in Nebraska was disqualified from the Springfield Soccer Club girls tournament because the organizers thought one of its players -- 8-year-old Mili Hernandez -- was a boy.

Her father, Gerardo, told WOWT that Mili has always enjoyed playing soccer and wearing her hair short. It is no surprise to her family and close friends that she is so good at soccer that she plays on a team with 11-year-olds already.

But just before the finals of the tournament, her team, the Azzuri Cachorros of Omaha, was disqualified because officials insisted Hernandez, who has the shortest hair among her teammates, was a boy.

Since this news broke, significant female soccer players such as Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach have reached out to Mili:

After the story went national, the Nebraska State Soccer Association apologized to Hernandez for the situation. The tournament organizers claim that the team was disqualified due to a roster misprint that identified her as a boy.

But Mili's brother told WOWT that "we had a doctor's physical form and it gave a description and it said her age and female, so we showed them that but they wouldn't look at it."