Students do not have constitutional right to participate in sports, SJC rules

This case is an excellent example of how much today's parents have spoiled their children and how ridiculously litigious our society has become.

And I see how it ruined her life by not being able to swim when she wanted to. She went to Dartmouth and was a swimmer on that team.

What a bunch of complete jerks for even talking to a lawyer.

I guess children don't have as many rights as gays in Massachusetts. I'm so glad the SJC has explained that to me. They are just sooooooooooooooooo wonderful.

Who is keeping track of all the swimmers who are swimming for private club teams and high school teams simultaneously? These kids are swimming about five hours a day, seven days a week. The MIAA says they do not regulate this. It is presently standard and accepted in the Middlesex League.

Good ruling. I bet the parents may have held her back intentionally for a competitive advantage. This is happening in alot of sports and it must be stopped.

A majority of dominant high school athlettes are a t least a year older than their peers. This is not right and MIAA should stop it!!!!!!!!!!!!

She should have known better. In Massachusetts, an illegal alien has a right to state subsidized housing. A bum has the right to harass you in the subway station for money. Gangs of youth have a right to congregate in Downtown Crossing, during school hours. But there is no right of a high-achieving, intelligent, Ivy League bound young woman to represent her school in athletic competition. If she were doing something outside of societal norms, I am sure they would have found that she was legally entitled to do it. But she was going something normal, so of course, they told her she had no right to be normal.

Well, I ain't losing sleep over this decision. While this girl's been suing over the "constitutional right" to participate in high school sports, the following decisions have ben handed down by other courts:
1. American citizens can be held for years without habeas corpus on American soil, if we are classified as a "domestic terrorist", whether there's prrof or not;
2. there's no right to privacy regarding our sex lives and our phone calls;
3. and apparently a corporation can demolish my house to build a mall if they get the city council to go along with it.

Let's keep these facts in mind when we consider what "rights" are worth fighting over.

II have to agree with Justice Cowin decision but I think the MIAA was unreasonable when it denied her eligibility. She did not compete as a member of Austin Preps team.

Bigger fish to fry,

Which amendment was that again? Let's see, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech... ah, here it is! Freedom to be held back in high school to provide an unfair advantage against kids younger than you! That's Amendment 55, right?

I must agree that MIAA made the wrong decision in not allowing this young woman to play under the circumstances; however, I believe is the MIAA’s call and only because of our litigious society, did this make it to a court of law. We live in a society that is losing the sense of right and wrong and a sense of a solid work ethic. Also, that any rule that is put in place is open to be challenged in court. That is what we are teaching our student athletes. If you don't get what you want, take it to court. Many parents are living their lives through their children because they have a misconception that their child's success will over shadow their own failures as a parent.

As a High School Varsity Basketball coach, I have seen situations when cutting a child from the team met with such disdain that individuals might as well have executed me on sight. I have had a parent who wanted to take a swing at me because I asked that their child be benched the next game because the child walked off the court and left during a game. What happened to teaching a child to earn a position on a sports team or in life? How about having respect for a person in authority. Most parents (I am also a parent of six children) have brought up a generation that feels that they are entitled to everything without earning it. They are given over to their childs demands and when a parent shows loving discipline, they are chastized by the government and the school system. This teaches them they do not need to follow the rules. This spirit of entitlement has lead kids to become arrogant, lazy, disrespectful, and rebellious. This is the fault of society as a whole; the parents, the schools, and the government.

Being cut from a sports team in the past usually moved a young man or woman to work harder and prep for the tryouts the next year. It used to be an honor to make a team whether you were a starter or a bench player. But today, as coaches, many of us feel the pressure from parents and school administrators to ensure that everyone who comes out makes the team and plays. Then we are shocked when our children are not competitive as adults in a tightening job market or in a competitive college atmosphere. We never taught them the truth in life, that hard work and perseverance moves someone forward, and that they do not receive things they do not earn.

I think the decision by the SJC (though I don't believe it should have brought there) was correct. A ruling in the other direction probably would have had me hauled in to court for cutting players or not playing each player for equal time. We need to start rising up motivated, strong young leaders, and stop feeling the need to "dumb kids down" to make them equal whether it is in the classroom or the athletic field of play.