Mother makes Federal Case out of son cut from soccer team

[kamik86]

My high school I don't think had a rule for this besides for seniors, but that was partially because most years we didn't have enough people try out to actually cut people anyway. Actually we have a few games were JV didn't play because a few kids were injured or sick and the varsity team would have to take the best players from JV up to varsity for the game and would leave JV at too few people to field a team.

 

[mco65]

If soccer is that important to the boy, couldn't they simply go to another school where his chances of making the team are greater... ?

Seems like an easier route than a lawsuit. I suspect public schools mandate you live within a certain geographic area but i have seen this manipulated more often and much easier than suing the school..

 

[mjkacmom]

If soccer is that important to the boy, couldn't they simply go to another school where his chances of making the team are greater... ?

Seems like an easier route than a lawsuit. I suspect public schools mandate you live within a certain geographic area but i have seen this manipulated more often and much easier than suing the school..

Around here that really doesn’t happen, you could pay for private school but that averages $30,000 a year or so. However, there is always club soccer, ds15 has been playing club forever, plus is on varsity. I’m sure $3000 is less than this court case.

 

[sam_gordon]

If soccer is that important to the boy, couldn't they simply go to another school where his chances of making the team are greater... ?

Seems like an easier route than a lawsuit. I suspect public schools mandate you live within a certain geographic area but i have seen this manipulated more often and much easier than suing the school..

My guess is he was already enrolled in the school and didn't know he didn't make the team until it was too late to transfer.

I'm also guessing the parents aren't paying a lawyer for this case. The lawyer is hoping they'll get $$ from a settlement or something.

 

[soccerdad72]

My guess is he was already enrolled in the school and didn't know he didn't make the team until it was too late to transfer.

I'm also guessing the parents aren't paying a lawyer for this case. The lawyer is hoping they'll get $$ from a settlement or something.

ITA (on both points) - even if there was another school for the boy to transfer to, it wouldn't help him be able to play soccer this year, as most states have rules about transfer players that would likely require him to sit out a year before eligible.

My younger son (in 8th grade) is debating his high school choices now - one of the Catholic schools we wanted him to look at, he has chosen not to apply to. His reasoning is his concern that he wouldn't make their soccer team (the school is Top 10 in the nation right now). He's a good player, but the school cuts dozens of boys every year, so it's a legitimate concern.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Maybe the family should have spent the lawsuit $ on private coaching for their kid if it was such a big deal to them/him. Get his playing level where it needs to be to be to make the team next year. It’s called a goal and you have to put effort into achieving it. Great life lesson for this age.

According to the second article linked in the thread:

"The family hired a private coach for the boy, he joined a St. Louis club team, and he improved, his stepfather said. He was one of the leading scorers on junior varsity last year."

They hired a coach when the boy first tried out for in general when he was a freshman and didn't make either team. The boy made JV as a sophmore. He tried out for Varsity for his junior year and didn't make it. The fact that he's a junior, for this school, meant he was unable to be placed on the JV team. The question could become if he was able to would he have made JV again as a junior based on his abilities.

So it was at least important enough for them in the past to get him coached.

Also according to the second article linked in the thread the coach said this:

"The coach lauded John Doe’s maturity and said the boy was “right on the bubble,” and had some impressive soccer attributes such as “his attacking mentality and straight line speed.”

However, the coach went on to say that the boy had a “few holes in his game,” including technical ability, and that other kids had better skill and “soccer IQ.”

It really does appear though that in comparison to his cohorts he's not quite ready for Varsity. On the one hand the school has a rule regarding school year and eligibility for JV on the other hand the second article linked states girls were able to join JV even if the year they were in school meant they shouldn't be able to. BUT perhaps there are different rules for girls teams than boys.

On the one hand the parents knew he wouldn't be eligible and this whole mess would have been avoided had their son made it to Varsity in the first place. On the other hand I'm sure it depends greatly on where one lives and acceptability of such a rule of school year and eligibility in type of teams.

The only thing I could have seen is the parents have the boy privately coached again to see if his skill level, especially knowing what the coach was looking for, could be improved and he make Varsity his senior year; could be he's the type of kid that needs continual immersion in the sport to keep up and improve skills. Then again I think sometimes it can be hard for parents to see their kids be good just not good enough in X and sometimes no amount of additional help is going to improve someone beyond a certain level.

 

[Happyinwonerland]

This kid's stepdad is just trying to make an easy buck. The notion that they should do away with age cut offs in kids' sports if ridiculous. Does he also want to allow 16 year olds who are not very athletic to be allowed on teams with 5 year olds? Because that is the precedent that would be set by delcaring this age discrimination.
At this point, the kid's soccer career is over. Nobody will want him on their team simply because of this, no matter how good he his. And the other kids on the team would be awful to him. Good going, stepdad.

 

[sam_gordon]

ITA (on both points) - even if there was another school for the boy to transfer to, it wouldn't help him be able to play soccer this year, as most states have rules about transfer players that would likely require him to sit out a year before eligible.

My state has a similar rule, but it only applies to Varsity players.

This kid's stepdad is just trying to make an easy buck. The notion that they should do away with age cut offs in kids' sports if ridiculous. Does he also want to allow 16 year olds who are not very athletic to be allowed on teams with 5 year olds? Because that is the precedent that would be set by delcaring this age discrimination.
At this point, the kid's soccer career is over. Nobody will want him on their team simply because of this, no matter how good he his. And the other kids on the team would be awful to him. Good going, stepdad.

But the age cutoff is set by the school, not the organizing body. IMO, if Junior girls are allowed on the Girls JV team, then Junior boys should be allowed on the Boys JV team. BUT, if his skills are less than others, he shouldn't get an automatic pass onto the JV (or Varsity) team simply because he is a Junior.

 

[soccerdad72]

My state has a similar rule, but it only applies to Varsity players.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case in our state too - I doubt the states pay much attention to JV rosters, to be honest.

 

[snoodledoo]

If my parents ever filed a lawsuit like that, I'd be going to school with a bag over my head wearing a T shirt that said, "My mom spent my college fund on a lawsuit and all I got was this T shirt. "

DS16 heard this story in the car and said, "I feel bad for that kid."

Wait....juniors aren't permitted on the JV team? In my high school JV was mostly juniors and sophomores, with maybe an occasional skilled freshman. The varsity teams were mainly seniors with a handful of juniors.

In our local schools, the rules are: only Freshman can play on the Freshman team, and Seniors can only play on Varsity. Any other variation is permitted (Freshman can play any team based on ability; Sophomores/Juniors can make JV or Varsity, based on ability).

 

[Happyinwonerland]

If my parents ever filed a lawsuit like that, I'd be going to school with a bag over my head wearing a T shirt that said, "My mom spent my college fund on a lawsuit and all I got was this T shirt. "

His stepdad is the lawyer and is claiming over 6 figures in fees at this point. He was hoping for an easy payday.

 

[cats mom]

I'm a big believer in not giving up and in fighting for your dream. There had to be a better a way in this case though.

If soccer is this kid's dream perhaps his parents should have focused their time, energy, and money on helping him find another place to play instead of on fighting in the courts.
Rhetoric about fairness of rules and procedures aside, this lawsuit was about this one kid at this one moment in time, period.

I know high school sports can feel like the center of a kid's universe, but HS seasons are actually really short.
They're not worth this kind of drama, and certainly not worth Texas cheerleader mama drama.
It's too bad all adults can't maintain enough distance and maturity to realize that.

Why not teach your kid to find ways to move on after rejection that don't involve filing a lawsuit?
The right club or travel team can be more immersive and beneficial for young athletes than a high school team anyway.


It's been interesting to read different rules and norms from around the country when it comes to who can play on what team though.
Of course there are age related rules about who is eligible to compete in HS sports in general, but whether an athlete plays on Freshman, JV, or Varsity is left up to each individual coaching staff in our area.

A bit OT, but somewhat related to the cutting juniors who aren't good enough for varsity thing...
One HS coaching staff in our area adopted a program philosophy of playing with an eye toward molding a future championship team. Every 4-5 years (depending on where talent fell) they'd not only pull freshmen up to varsity, they'd make them starters. Of course the first couple of years they'd suck, but after playing 4 years of varsity ball as a unit, they'd often be quite good by senior year. This tactic also put the team in a less competitive league at just the right time because placements were re-evaluated every 2 years and were largely determined by W/L records. Note: that rule changed and league placement is mainly based on school size now. Good move IMO.
Those coaches have groomed a couple of championship teams that way, but this year's team was supposed to be the next big thing, and they flopped big time. It will be interesting to see if they keep up the same approach, or if they adopt a more traditional play the best talent you currently have philosophy.

 

[RedAngie]

D

In our local schools, the rules are: only Freshman can play on the Freshman team, and Seniors can only play on Varsity. Any other variation is permitted (Freshman can play any team based on ability; Sophomores/Juniors can make JV or Varsity, based on ability).

That's how it was in my large high school too, although I can't recall any freshman girls playing varsity softball or field hockey. Maybe some made it in basketball or track.