Posted on 02/17/2011 9:03:41 PM PST by Amos McCoy
When it became apparent that his opponent in the state tournament wrestling match would be a girl., e would be facing off against a girl, Joel Northrup, forfeited his match to her. As a home-schooled sophomore with a 35-4 record, Joel is also a Christian who takes his faith seriously. So he could not in good conscience wrestle with a girl due to the manner in which a wrestler must grapple with their opponent. If only we had more boys raised to respect the fairer sex as much as Joel has been. His parents are homeschooling him. but he has been allowed to wrestle with the Lin-Mar of Marion Iowa. So Cassy Herkelman of Cedar Falls was able to win her first match at the Iowa State High School Athletic Association State Wrestling Tournament at Wells Fargo Arena on Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2011.
Her opponent, Joel Northrup of Linn-Mar of Marion, declined to wrestle her.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan (Black, the tournament's other female entrant) and their accomplishments. However, wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times. As a matter of conscience and my faith, I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most of the high school sports in Iowa."
His coach Doug Streicher did not speak with the media after the match. The other girl, Megan, lost her match in 52 seconds to the boy she wrestled.
Video of wrestler forfeiting match against a girl.
(Excerpt) Read more at ChicoER.com...
I'm not a huge defender of public schools, but if you're home schooling the kid you've made the choice to pull him/her out of the public school system.
Why is it that you want him/her to be a part of public school athletics? There are other routes to take with regard to sports and many outlets for kids outside of their school to compete in a huge variety of activities. But how can a kid represent his school in an athletic competition if he isn't enrolled in the school?
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Why not? If he lives in the community and his parents pay their school and property taxes, why not?
In some smaller schools, they would welcome the added players.
I once had someone about begging me to send my kids to public schools so they could swim on their team, they needed swimmers so much.
Tell me, do illegals get to play on public school sports teams?
Guess again....
That is not always the case. A lot of community sports teams end in about 7th or 8th grade because high school sports are available.
Besides, for crying out loud, it's just a sport. It's extra-curricular and while it's enjoyable for the kinds involved, precious few of them actually ever get to the professional level. All those awards and placements are meaningless in the real world.
...an experience he would not have had if he hadn't been taking part in a sports program.
Sports are formative in ways that go beyond awards and physical fitness.
All that's fine, if there are an unlimited number of slots. Wrestling is a little different. Not everyone gets to compete.
I just don't see how you give a slot to a kid who doesn't attend the school over a kid who is actually enrolled and attends the school. If this home schooled kid pushed out another kid's chance to compete and represent his school, then I think the priority should go to the kid who actually is enrolled.
It's totally possible that this wasn't the case though. We were a large school but had a couple of weight classes where we only had one guy.
I'll just chalk statements like this to your ignorance of the sport.
Learn a little bit and maybe watch some matches before drawing conclusions.
If a girl can reach the state tournament in a wrestling Mecca like Iowa by competing on a level playing field with the guys, it's an incredible accomplishment and she deserves to be treated with the respect of an athlete. She's earned it.
This girl in the links below made it to the state tournament in Nebraska. Are you going to tell her she shouldn't compete?:
Ok, that was a cheap shot, but as a former homeschooling parent, all I heard was our kids weren't playing sports or they weren't socialized, then when an opportunity comes along for us to drag them out of their completely indoctrinated dungeon like existence to mingle with "real" kids, we get "why is a homeschooler getting to play" crap.
You sound like you think our children should be punished for making a decision to learn in a different environment by not being allowed to do selected activites that we pay taxes for.
Punishment has nothing to do with it. All I said was that it seems odd that people are treating this girl like she doesn't belong, even though she's enrolled in the school she's representing. But the boy who refused to wrestle an opponent who earned their spot, and who doesn't even attend the school he represents, is some sort of hero.
As long as you're not denying an opportunity to a kid who is actually enrolled and attends the school that he wants to represent, then I say home schoolers can have at it, as long as they're taxpayers of the district, pay the same fees, and meet the same academic eligibility requirements that everyone else does.
The hypocrisy is staggering. Thanks for making that point.
I still haven't heard any opinion about the illegals playing sports. If an illegal is attending public school for free, and his parents are not paying school and property taxes, is that OK just because he's attending?
I'm surprised that people with that kind of mentality don't demand that homeschoolers be not allowed to participate in spelling bees, especially the way they clean up in the National Spelling Bee year after year.
Many public school districts don’t allow homeschooled kids to participate in any activities at all. It is nice to see a school that did allow him to try out for the team and play.
When I stop paying for schools as part of my property taxes then I’ll stop demanding use of public school resources and sporting events.
‘Lastly, if the kid is home schooled, then why is he wrestling on a high school team? ‘
Cause his parents pay taxes.
...because the homeschooler's parents pay in full for their kid's slot at the school, whether he actually does his academics there or not.
So it's "homeschoolers to the back of the bus," is it?
You sound like a member of some teacher's union or something. I'm sure the NEA thanks you for your work here.
But they didn't enroll him at the school, so why should he represent the school over someone who actually goes there? Should he be able to run for Class President too?
I'm wondering if you'd make the same argument if we had a good voucher program. If parents were reimbursed for their property taxes to fund home schooling or private school, would they still demand access to play on the teams of schools their children don't go to?
Should illegals be allowed to play school sports?
Because, in the case of wrestling, the student in question not only paid his way but he earned the spot on the team by beating everyone else on the team in that weight class. If an enrolled student wants that spot on the team, let him call for a challenge match and wrestle for it. The homeschooler did.
So the homeschoolers are just supposed to pay their money and shut up and sit down?
I'm wondering if you'd make the same argument if we had a good voucher program. If parents were reimbursed for their property taxes to fund home schooling or private school, would they still demand access to play on the teams of schools their children don't go to?
The smart ones wouldn't... but it's a hypothetical in any case. Honestly I think vouchers are a lousy idea for two reasons: One, government money never comes without government control, and I'd just as soon the government keep its fingers off my teaching efforts, thanks... and two, vouchers would cut off homeschoolers' access to the public facilities and programs that are currently available to them in some cases.
In many jurisdictions homeschoolers aren't allowed to take part in public-school activities, period.
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