Mother Sues District/State After Son Cut From Team

[crcballer55]

I can't say I didn't see this coming one day...

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/highs...e-constitutional-violation-son-113537254.html


An Arkansas mother has sued her son's high school for cutting her son from the school's varsity basketball team, claiming that he was deprived the right of a full education because he was not allowed to take part in school athletics.



As reported by Arkansas Matters and USA Today, among other sources, Teresa Bloodman, the mother of a Maumelle (Ark.) High freshman, filed suit against the school, district and state after her son was replaced on the school's basketball team following a third set of tryouts for the team that re-incorporated members of the school's football team.

Bloodman's son, who is a minor and was not named in the suit, spent two months as part of the team after qualifying through two tryouts in August only to be replaced three months later by a member of the football team, as were nine of the team's 11 original players.



While those replacements might stoke claims of favoritism, the lawsuit filed by Bloodman goes much further, claiming that her son has a constitutional right to participate in school sports, as you can read in the excerpt from the suit directly below.

"…the deprivation of the right to a full and complete education which includes competition in sports and consequently athletic scholarships impairs John Doe of a property right guaranteed under both the U.S. and State Constitutions."


The suit further alleges that the sheer lack of an orderly appeals process for students who were cut is also a violation of due process.

While the case itself could serve as a watershed in how schools hold tryouts for varsity sports, the attorney for the Pulaski County Special School District is confident that it will be seen as groundless once it is further examined in a court of law.

"The simple issue here is whether or not a student has a right to participate in extracurricular activities; be it band, choir or whatever," Pulaski County Special School District attorney Jay Bequette told Arkansas Matters. "There is no clearly established right of parents to have their children compete in interscholastic athletics."

 

[blakep267]

I would assume the football season would clash with basketballbut that is kinda dirty for the school to do

 

[jesusshuttlesworth34]

If definitely would not want to attend High School with a lawsuit hanging over my head that my mother slapped on the school.  Kids are too young to be entagled in all that...those years should be carefree and focused on other things.  Tough. 

 

[deuce king]

This is why we need more fathers involved in their kids life.  A man would know better to even attempt to take it this far.

 

[dabottom305]

Originally Posted by Deuce King

This is why we need more fathers involved in their kids life.  A man would know better to even attempt to take it this far.

I 1000% agree.

 

[alchemist iq]

If i were to guess the coach maintains both the football team and Basketball team. Favoritism is at play here.

 

[crazy dav0]

hmmm ... interesting

on one hand she raises an interesting point about "full" education if you believe that basketball can teach ... but at the same time if it's about "full" education then play another sport ... it doesn't have to be ball

i agree w/ the fact that the school put the football players on the team instead ... which should be her argument

but my first thought is people sue for anything and everything in this country

 

[veintisiete]

Originally Posted by Deuce King

This is why we need more fathers involved in their kids life.  A man would know better to even attempt to take it this far.

im gonna have to agree with this

 

[pharelfor3]

damn 9 of 11 memeber replaced. Either all their best playrs were on the football team or their basketball team must really suck.

 

[Grine]

Originally Posted by Deuce King

This is why we need more fathers involved in their kids life.  A man would know better to even attempt to take it this far.

Werd.

But you know how mothers are.

 

[the stoic paisano]

Originally Posted by Alchemist IQ

If i were to guess the coach maintains both the football team and Basketball team. Favoritism is at play here.

Why? Certain (football) players were unavailable to be named to the basketball team at one point. Once they became eligible, those players earned back their spots. In the meantime, the basketball team shouldn't have had to play with a less than full roster, and the suing kid is probably one of the temp players.
How is this different than a player holding a spot on a roster during spring practice and getting booted for an incoming freshman recruit in August.

 

[bruce negro]

She's stupid. She has the right idea, that this is definitely wrong, but she chooses the wrong thing to argue to prove her point. Come on.

 

[faint dj3]

Originally Posted by JesusShuttlesworth34

If definitely would not want to attend High School with a lawsuit hanging over my head that my mother slapped on the school.  Kids are too young to be entagled in all that...those years should be carefree and focused on other things.  Tough. 

 

[lunchroomclassic]

the high school i went to does the same thing with cuts. the end of football season and basketball tryouts overlaps. students aren't allowed to tryout while participating in another sport. it is a no-brainer that some ballplayers might also be playing football as well.

 

[bomb squad records]

Originally Posted by Alchemist IQ

If i were to guess the coach maintains both the football team and Basketball team. Favoritism is at play here.

Favoritism is at play in the real world as well. This is just another case of how this country is going soft. Just look at how kids are dressing and what they watch on tv and listen to on the radio. The young men of this country are turning into a bunch of singing and dancing tight jean wearing babies. I grew up watching the A-team and Dukes of Hazzerd and kids now watch Glee and American Idol.

 

[crcballer55]

Originally Posted by cRazy dav0

hmmm ... interesting

on one hand she raises an interesting point about "full" education if you believe that basketball can teach ... but at the same time if it's about "full" education then play another sport ... it doesn't have to be ball

i agree w/ the fact that the school put the football players on the team instead ... which should be her argument

but my first thought is people sue for anything and everything in this country

It's not like he was cut from the program entirely. He was a freshman who was cut from the varsity squad. He's still eligible to get a "full" education. Besides, if that's how we describe a "full education" then we're really missing the point by cutting extracurricular classes in exchange for more focus on math, science, & English.

 

[tr1ll]

I don't want to live on this continent anymore.

If he got cut from the team, what would make her think he's gonna get a scholarship?

 

[sneekerluvr]

This is ridiculous. The audacity of this poor kid's mother to take this to this level is sad. People in today's society look at suing someone as a means to get money, and that's it. Honestly, as someone who was a multiple sport athlete throughout high school, I can pretty much guarantee you that the kid was on the school's summer league team and practiced with them through the fall while football was in session. In addition to all of that, the kid is only a freshman. If they don't have a freshman or jv team for him to play on, he has plenty of time to work on his game to ensure he makes it in the years to come.

 

[bruce negro]

Originally Posted by BOMB SQUAD RECORDS

Originally Posted by Alchemist IQ

If i were to guess the coach maintains both the football team and Basketball team. Favoritism is at play here.

Favoritism is at play in the real world as well. This is just another case of how this country is going soft. Just look at how kids are dressing and what they watch on tv and listen to on the radio. The young men of this country are turning into a bunch of singing and dancing tight jean wearing babies. I grew up watching the A-team and Dukes of Hazzerd and kids now watch Glee and American Idol.

Oh wow, what a tough guy you are 

What you watch on TV only matters if you LET it affect you. I blame TV less than I blame the fact that most kids are sheltered from the real world. We have so many distractions: television, the Internet, mobile phones, tablet computers, etc. It's not so much the content on these, but that they are able avenues that enable kids to escape from the real world and it's acceptable because having all of these things is cool. I'm 19, I've watched Glee and American Idol, hell, I enjoy my fair share of dancing with the stars. The difference between me and a ton of other kids is that I never let these different distractions swallow me whole and keep me from doing REAL interaction with the rest of the world. I'm constantly dealing with the "real world" via being competitive in school, having hobbies outside of a computer like longboarding and working out, having an internship in a large corporation, actively communicating with mentors and others who are knowledgeable in the fields I'm interested in, etc. I do agree that the country is going "soft," but that only applies to the people who are letting it happen. It gives people like me more opportunities anyways.

 

[chickencurry4eva]

lol at this chick tryna cash in...

Being on the basketball team is a choice and ulitmately a privilage, a "full and complete" education can be had without it and thus no ones depriving anyone of anything..

No grounds = this #%% being thrown out and her laughed out of a courtroom

 

[doublejs07]

Next lawsuit from this mother is going to be about bullying....

I don't think she has any clue of the ramifications this is gonna have on her son from his fellow students. She just made his life a living hell. Unless she's planning on home-schooling or transferring him somewhere else, his reputation is WASHED.

I feel bad for the kid here...

 

[zapatohead408]

man, I got cut from my high school team too, but so did MJ, so I'm straight.

 

[steven42lh]

Originally Posted by The Stoic Paisano

Originally Posted by Alchemist IQ

If i were to guess the coach maintains both the football team and Basketball team. Favoritism is at play here.

Why? Certain (football) players were unavailable to be named to the basketball team at one point. Once they became eligible, those players earned back their spots. In the meantime, the basketball team shouldn't have had to play with a less than full roster, and the suing kid is probably one of the temp players.
How is this different than a player holding a spot on a roster during spring practice and getting booted for an incoming freshman recruit in August.

My school had overlap between baseball, football, and basketball. The football members and baseball members who made the team workout in the summer before the school year begins and when open tryouts are held it is for a set number of available spots minus the previous team members and accepted players from other sports. We knew once we made the roster after tryouts that was it for the year. None of this foolishness with another set of tryouts later in the semester after you are told you are on the team and practice as a team for 3 months. The coach should have thought this out better.

 

[crcballer55]

Originally Posted by steven42lh

Originally Posted by The Stoic Paisano

Originally Posted by Alchemist IQ

If i were to guess the coach maintains both the football team and Basketball team. Favoritism is at play here.

Why? Certain (football) players were unavailable to be named to the basketball team at one point. Once they became eligible, those players earned back their spots. In the meantime, the basketball team shouldn't have had to play with a less than full roster, and the suing kid is probably one of the temp players.
How is this different than a player holding a spot on a roster during spring practice and getting booted for an incoming freshman recruit in August.

My school had overlap between baseball, football, and basketball. The football members and baseball members who made the team workout in the summer before the school year begins and when open tryouts are held it is for a set number of available spots minus the previous team members and accepted players from other sports. We knew once we made the roster after tryouts that was it for the year. None of this foolishness with another set of tryouts later in the semester after you are told you are on the team and practice as a team for 3 months. The coach should have thought this out better.

How do you know he didn't think it out and the mother isn't just making a big deal over nothing? If 9 out of 11 players were "cut" I'm thinking that most of them were likely underclassmen who were practicing with the varsity coach. Most players know that there is always another set of tryouts for football players once the season is over and the coach most likely knows who from that team is going to make the varsity team.

The worst case scenario is that he didn't communicate this well enough to the underclassmen that only 2 spots would remain available once season rolled around and there was an uproar from a bunch of parents who thought their kids were the best player on the team.

 

[kjordan23]

That's unfortunate because he's still gonna have to transfer. But that coach is dirty