I'll say one thing for this magazine, interspersed between all of the hero-worship articles are some that cover subjects with real meat. In the last few issues are articles about foreign swimmers with American college scholarships, the conflict between USS and high-school swimming, eating disorders among swimmers, and (the lack of) racial diversity in the sport.
These are real issues to the sport.
Wouldn't it be nice if this group discussed some of these?
Well if someone wants to get me going on the conflict between USA-S and high school, just let me know. For those who read the article, the unnamed high school swimmer who sued the state high school federation is my eldest daughter. We have our date with the Eastern District of the Missouri Appellate Court on February 20. We are keeping our fingers crossed but it won’t be easy. At least this time we get to argue before the panel. The last appeal in a case against the state high school association was dismissed before oral arguments. If you care to know the outcome (which could take 6 months), I would be glad to keep you informed.
ljlete -
I somehow missed the article and don't know anything about it, but am very interested to know about it, and how it turns out. I've got a daughter in USA and next year will be in high school (hopefully one with a swim team). Thanks.
I am also curious as to the issues of the case (since I don't read the magazine). Is it possible to summarize these issues without reciting the entire case history?
For those that would like a brief (if it is possible) history here is my attempt.
Last year my daughter, in preparation for swimming at the USA-Swimming Sectional meet, was granted permission by her high school coach to not attend practice for about a week as the high school team was unwieldy large prior to cuts and my daughter wanted to continue to train with the USA-Swimming club. Unbeknownst to us (even after direct questioning by us), this was contrary to the Missouri State High School Activities Association rule that prohibits participation in a club sport while competing for a high school in the same sport. This prohibition is complete and even prevents students from practicing with their club team even when the school is out of session or on the weekend. At the same time, the US Supreme Court ruled, in Brentwood v. Tennessee State High School Athletic Association, that the Association, as a state actor, was subject to the 14th amendment to the US Constitution. We then sued the MSHAA claiming violation of my daughter’s rights of association and under 42 USC 1982 which prohibits arbitrary and capricious laws and regulations by the state. The specifics about MSHAA are most curious in that they allow a student to compete in two different sports at the same time either for the school or one in-school and one out-of-school. They also regulate activities such as drama, speech and band. They do not limit participation in these activities based upon out-of-school activities. We went to trial and the only argument presented by MSHAA was that they were doing this to protect the student from the conflicting wishes of the two coaches. They did not bring up the potential time issues likely due to the fact that my daughter is a very good student. In spite of what I considered a persuasive argument, we lost. The trial judge gave what can be characterized as a curious ruling since she started out by saying that she was not sure she had jurisdiction. We have appealed the ruling and while I would love to go into our strategy, the element of surprise requires that I not do so. I will let you know what happens when I can.
Leo
There are many states who have rules of this sort with varying degrees of prohibition. There are also many states who have set up a system in which the clubs and the high schools are very cooperative and the kids benefit. There are benefits to be had from both club swimming and high school swimming. One of my issues is that when there is no reason for the state to act in loco parentis they come in and cause numerous athletes to make a difficult choice when they really don't have to make one.
Leo,
Missouri has had that rule since we lived there. We're now in Tennessee and swimming is not a sanctioned sport under the direction of TSSAA. Therefore, my daughters have all swum both USA and High School at the same time. They still represent the High School, and have a State Championship and still get Varsity letters, but it's basically a "club" thing. It looks and acts like a sanctioned sport, but it isn't. There have been some discussions about sanctioning in recent years, but those of us with kids in USA programs are naturally against it. This discussion may be interesting, but it's not exactly Masters related. My apologies to you Masters folks who may wonder why this thread is here, but it's about swimming and it's about our kids, two things that are easy to talk about.
Greg
Here's a point to consider. A choice for a swimmer to compete in high school vs. USA may be eased somewhat if there is ample pool access for all high school swimmers within a state.
The city of Louisville has only two high school competition pools in the entire county school system. One of these is closing soon. However, my understanding is that Indiana, our neighbor across the mighty Ohio River, has a competition pool on every public high school campus within the state. Pool training in Indiana takes on the same characteristics as football or b-ball training--it can be done right there on campus. Presumably, each school has its own coach and its own swim program.
Kentucky public school students don't have to face the USA/high school participation choice, but Indiana students do. Kentucky students have to find their way from school to a pool across town or nearby to train. Coaches at these pools are chiefly USA club coaches, and they may have members from several high schools on their teams. Coaches and pools are shared by public high school students in Kentucky during the high school competition season.
This distinction may underlie the establishment (or not) of exclusionary rules from state to state. Or, it may have nothing to do with it. But it seems to me that where exclusionary rules exist, high school programs have to accommodate the needs of competitors 100%, and that appears not to have been the case with Leo's daughter. A new student recently transferred from an Indiana residence to Louisville, and a new member on my son's high school swim team told me this weekend that he liked the rules in Kentucky much better.
One more point about that school which is closing soon here in town. You guessed it, it sits right smack in the middle of an area with the highest concentration of African Americans. During the high school regionals this last weekend, I could count on one hand the number of non-white participants out the several hundred who went off the blocks. Only one appeared the next day in finals. I see this as a failure of leadership rising out of weak perception of what it means to live in a diverse community.
Another oddity in the Missouri rules is the prohibition preventing a high school coach from being the swimmer's year round USA-Swimming coach. This is in spite of their statement that they don't want two coaches having a conflict over one swimmer. If some only had one coach there wouldn't be a conflict. So to get around this problem, there are lots of games played about who is really coaching whom.
Leo
