There are lessons to be learned in the punishment of the Jackson High School team. Some of the learning ought to occur at the state level.
That’s because the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association — a group whose work is consistently impressive — acted according to existing rules when it ended Jackson’s baseball season this week. It appears that competent, caring, dedicated people followed the rules for dealing with an eligibility violation that was never intended by one team player. Still, the result was a hard-to-understand harshness in the treatment of a young man and his team.
As Herald Writer Aaron Coe reported on Wednesday, the Jackson High baseball team wound up being eliminated from a playoff spot that they thought they had earned. It was because a Jackson player was ineligible for a season because he had just transferred from neighboring Snohomish High.
It’s a very unfortunate situation for all concerned — especially the Jackson team members, including the player who was declared ineligible but never did anything questionable. Since it appears that the WIAA’s decision-making was a good as possible, the association’s member schools really need to consider the options for rules that offer its outstanding people more flexibility.
It’s wonderful to have clear rules carried out by people with excellent judgment. With more options for punishments and waivers, though, situations like this might be resolved with less pain for all. There are a number of options, including more deference to families’ decisions about school transfer (as long as athletic advantage wasn’t one of the factors in the move). The best choices could emerge from a serious review conducted by a number of parties.
The Jackson punishment shows why some re-thinking is required.
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