Sisters' mother sues over soccer....NC association rule at issue
Sisters' mother sues over soccer
N.C. association's rule at issue
By Michael Knox
mknox@independenttribune.com
Saturday, March 25, 2006
CONCORD - The mother of two Northwest Cabarrus High School athletes who were refused permission to play soccer because they had already played at another school in the fall has filed a lawsuit against the North Carolina High School Athletic Association and the Board of Education for Cabarrus County.
Kathryn Goodman Simpkins, the mother of Margaret Massie “Emmy” Simpkins, 15, and Caroline Craven “Callie” Simpkins, 14, filed the lawsuit Thursday in Cabarrus County Civil Court.
The lawsuit asks the court to allow the two girls to play high school soccer during the spring 2006 season. The athletes were told they were ineligible to play soccer at Northwest because they played high school soccer in Maryland last fall before moving to North Carolina.
In Maryland, as in many other states, girls’ soccer is played in the fall, because it is the traditional season, according to the lawsuit. In the fall of 2005, the two girls played soccer in Maryland.
Margaret and Caroline Simpkins joined the Northwest High School girls’ soccer team in time for the spring 2006 season. On Feb. 28, they were notified that they were ineligible to play.
According to a letter from Charlie Adams, executive director of the NCHSAA, a student can play a particular sport only “one time per calendar year,” the lawsuit states. The letter went on to state that the girls would not be eligible to play until the fall of the 2006-07 school year.
According to the NCHSAA, the rules state that a student may play a particular sport only one season per year, regardless of moving to North Carolina or not.
This is to prevent players from gaining an unfair advantage over others by playing back-to-back seasons.
But the lawsuit filed by Simpkins states the rule creates a hardship on Margaret and Caroline, because they won’t be able to play until the spring of 2007, making them unable to play for a year to a year and a half.
The lawsuit also states that officials have wrongly interpreted the rule, because track and field rules allow two seasons per year in North Carolina.
The lawsuit also states that the rule does not refer to a “school year.” It refers only to a “year.”
Margaret and Caroline Simpkins have not played soccer twice in a single calendar year, according to the lawsuit.
By scheduling North Carolina high school girls’ soccer in a “non-traditional season” the NCHSAA has caused a hardship for students moving from a state that plays in the “traditional” fall season, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states the students should be allowed to play soccer this spring and prohibit the NCHSAA from taking any action against Northwest or its students as a result of the girls being allowed to play.
