Albany High School girls track and field team members are sticking together to protest a school policy that has caused quite a stir: They are fighting to wear sports bras during practice.

“There’s nothing wrong or inappropriate about it. We’re athletes. It’s hot,” said Ahriah Baynes. “We should be able to run comfortably whether it’s in a sports bra, whether it's in a t-shirt, whether it's in a tank top.”

The girls say it started when Athletic Director Ashley Chappell, said that they couldn’t wear sports bras because it was distracting to their male coaches.

“The coaches are very respectful. Anyone here will tell you that,” said Sasha Roter.

When the girls were asked to cover up, they said, “what about the boys?” They pointed out that some of the male athletes were shirtless.

The athletic director then warned the girls and boys that they must wear shirts to practice.

“It’s the 21st century. We should not be sexualized for our stomachs when obviously everything is covered up,” said Ni-laya Crawford.

“We need to be treated equally, boys and girls. We need to stand up for ourselves. Even if they want to say we’re in the wrong, we’re not in the wrong,” said Kayla Huba.

The following day, the girls decided to protest the mandate and wore just their sports bras and shorts. The girls said while the boys were given a second warning to cover up, the girls were told they had to leave practice.

And that’s when they say they decided that something needed to be done.

“I was like maybe we should put this on change.org and make a petition, and if we have a lot of people sign this, maybe this can help with our cause and make something happen,” said Jordan Johnson.

That petition has close to 50,000 signatures. But on the same day that the girls were told to leave practice, a few of the girls attended a lacrosse game in their sports bras and were approached by the athletic director again. The next day, they learned they were suspended from practice for three days.

The school outlined their decision in a letter, stating the suspensions are “entirely related to the inappropriate and disrespectful language and behavior demonstrated by the identified members of the girls outdoor track and field team.”

Even though the suspension was shortened to one day, the graduating seniors missed out on one of the biggest meets of the season.

The girls are happy to see their story circulate across the country, but now they’re looking for actual change to be made.

Superintendent Kaweeda Adams says the district is meeting with members of the girls' track team to hear their suggestions for revising the dress code for next school year.

“If you look at previous codes of conduct through now, you’ll see where those changes have happened based on what’s going on during the time, what are some of the trends we’re seeing in our students’ dress code, so yes, that process has already started to happen,” Adams said.