The school district attorney states there have been eighteen cases in the US where state athletic association rules have been upheld in court. In Maine Supreme Court ruling in 2003 a judge ruled school extra curricular activities do not fall under constitutional rights.
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https://www.pressherald.com/20...ly-to-play-baseball/
I’m trying to separate the child from the parent here, as this is the type of madness only a parent can create. If I’m reading this article correctly, it states the kid does not go by his first name, Princehoward, but actually goes by his middle name, which is Barbecue. Did I read that right, the four times I read that sentence?
It’s also the kind of madness his lawyer can create for the benefit of his own visibility. But I don’t want to get personal here. Supposedly this is a soph with an 85 mph fastball. But no one has ever heard of him. I’m thinking maybe his lawyer, who brought up his velocity gunned him. Yes, according to the article his real middle name is Barbecue.
I found out about this story sitting in a Dunkin in Falmouth. I live in the area part time due to my mother in nearby assisted living. It’s interesting the dad claims Deering is the better program when Falmouth went to the state championship the last two years and won last year. I’m thinking the kid isn’t that good and is trying to avoid the loaded program.
This madness is not confined to Maine. It's an epidemic. Zombie parents are roaming the country.
Positive thoughts and prayers to the player. Baseball is hard enough as it is but to have a parent driving the bus like this is not helping.
The name actually will work great for the kid’s recruitment and hopefully jumpstart his pro career in places like Memphis, Durham, and Austin.
I would go that far. It's an interesting, legitimate case. Home schoolers and transfers can all cause problems with the transfer rules. We had a friend who spent a couple of years in Mexico. When they came back to the states there all kinds of issues with their eligibility. They both ended up being state qualifiers.
Failing classes? Good job on the home schooling Howie.
Rejected
https://www.pressherald.com/20...aseball-judge-rules/
The lawyer argued most parents have no clue about transfer eligibility rules and the state does a poor job of making the information known (it’s all on the state athletic association website). I say BS. But none of the lawyer’s kids played sports.
This is really odd. 99.99% of the time it's the school who's accused of recruiting transfers for athletic purposes. It just seems like a form of retaliation, probably because the kid has a bad attitude or his father is a problem.
The rules are clear. The lawyer claimed in court the rules aren't readily available. I found them in one search. ...
Article III
Section 4
Transfer Rule
A. A student, who transfers enrollment to another school without a corresponding change of residence by his/her parent(s) or legal guardian(s), may become eligible to participate in interscholastic activities if a Transfer Waiver Approval Form (page 61) is properly filed with the MPA office, with the student, parent(s)/guardian(s), sending and receiving principals all certifying that the transfer was not primarily for athletic purposes. The waiver will become effective upon approval by the MPA Executive Director or the approval of the Eligibility Committee at its next regularly scheduled meeting should the Executive Director refer the request to said committee. The student will become eligible on the date the waiver request is approved by the Executive Director or the Eligibility Committee. Either member school may appeal the Executive Director's decision to the Eligibility Committee and ultimately to the Interscholastic Executive Committee.
In the instance of foreign students who are otherwise eligible, the signature of the exchange agency contact person may be substituted for the sending Principal's signature when that signature cannot be obtained in a timely fashion.
For the purposes of the transfer rule, "primarily" shall mean that the student would not have transferred and/or would not have sought to transfer "but for" athletic purposes.
B. A student declared ineligible due to the transfer rule shall be eligible to participate only after being in attendance at the new school for three hundred sixty-five (365) consecutive calendar days which will commence with the first day of attendance at the new school.
The kid lives in Falmouth, lied and said he lived in Portland/Deering, and transferred in January. The kid went to Falmouth, then Deering, then Falmouth then Deering in the past two years when he wasn't being home schooled. Last year this all got by Deering. The kid played four carsity games the team js fortunate it didnt have to forfeit. This year the principal from Falmouth took the Deering job and blew the whistle on the kid. He thought the kid was being home schooled last year when he was at Deering playing varsity. No required waivers were ever signed. So the parents lied and were ignorant of the rules. Im guessing they knew and just lied. Deering broke the rules last year by not asking questions when the kid showed up.
Can't say I'm surprised with the court's ruling. The father did not research the transfer rules sufficiently. And had he done so, he would (or at least should have) have realized he was on shaky ground.
Maybe, maybe not. What recourse does a kid have if the Principals refuse to certify the transfer? I think that sounds like the issue here.
Golfman25 posted:Maybe, maybe not. What recourse does a kid have if the Principals refuse to certify the transfer? I think that sounds like the issue here.
Typically transfers will be refused if the principals believe the primary reason for transfer is athletics. It’s the case in this transfer. This article shows the principals believe the father was lying the whole time ...
https://www.pressherald.com/20...ly-to-play-baseball/
Allegedly the kid (at 15yo) has an 85 mph fastball. I’m guessing it’s alleged by the dad or the lawyer. I found the kid’s 14u travel team stats from last year. He had an 8.69 ERA. The team went 0-14. A 14u kid in Maine with an 80 mph fastball would dominate travel. He wouldn’t be on a 0-14 team. A 14u kid anywhere with an 80 mph fastball would at least be competent. This entire scenario created by the dad is BS. I was amused the kid and the dad showed up in court with USA jackets.
The dad claims it’s all about academics. Falmouth (where they live) is a far superior high school to Deering. Historically they both have quality baseball programs. Right now Falmouth is better.
Heres a guess. The kid’s pitching coach used to be the head coach at Deering. He’s a former minor leaguer. They won a couple of state championships when he was there. The new Deering coach played for this guy. He probably told the dad to lie and get the kid into a Deering. He isn’t the coach at Deering anymore for being fired for ethics reasons. He was ruled not fit to lead minors. But a few years later another high school hired him.
http://www.sunjournal.com/maine-coaches-indicted/
A friend of mine who attended Deering years ago and his kids were recently athletes there said it’s been a soap opera the past ten years with constant turnover of principals and coaches.
