SJC backs MIAA
Former Andover swimmer Elizabeth Mancuso (Globe File Photos)
In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court said today that participation in school athletics is not a constitutional right for anyone, rejecting former Andover swimmer Elizabeth Mancuso's claim after she was banned as a fifth-year senior.
From the Globe's Local News Updates
The state’s high court today strongly endorsed the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s oversight of athletics in the state’s public schools, rejecting a former Andover High School swimmer’s claim she was denied her constitutional rights when banned as a fifth-year senior.
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In a unanimous decision, the Supreme Judicial Court said that participation in school athletics is not a constitutional right for anyone. Writing for the court, Justice Judith M. Cowin also ruled that MIAA’s grievance procedure does not violate the state’s civil rights law.
“The right to a public education, even one with a mandatory physical education component, is not synonymous with the right to participate in extracurricular activities, such as interscholastic athletics," Cowin wrote.
She added, “we do not expand the contours of a student's property interest in public education to include within it every extracurricular activity that might enrich the educational experience, however meaningful those activities might be to individual students.:
Elizabeth Mancuso was a star swimmer in 2003 when she and her school asked the MIAA to treat her as a fifth year senior. Mancuso had attended Austin Preparatory School for her freshman year, but then repeated freshman year when she transferred into Andover’s public school because she had started school one year earlier than her peers, according to the SJC.
While at Austin, Mancuso swam on a travel team but not for the school. As she prepared for her senior year on the Andover swim team, the MIAA said her year at Austin counted towards her four years of high school eligibility and knocked her off the team, according to the SJC.
Denied by the MIAA, Mancuso went on to Dartmouth College where she was a member of that university’s swim and has since graduated from college.
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Look for updates from:
- Bob Holmes: A Reading resident (Go Rockets!) and Boston College graduate, Holmes is the Boston Globe High School Sports Editor. We remind you now that his weekly picks are often made in jest so everyone just calm down when he picks against Everett for 11 straight weeks.
- Mike Carraggi: An Everett native (Go Tide!), Mike attends Eastern Nazarene college and is entering his second year with the Globe. He'll focus on Division 1 this fall, which means he'll spend a lot of time in his hometown, which Forsberg thinks is cool because the Tide have that Fried Dough cart.
- Emily Wright: A Hyannis native (Go Barnstable Red Raiders!), Emily is a senior at Emerson College and has been with the Globe since the end of July. She'll cover Division 1A and will be the first intern we've trusted to navigate her way to Dennis-Yarmouth or any other school on the Cape.
- Mike Grossi: A Lexington native (Go Minutemen!), Mike attends Northeastern and has been with the Globe for two months. He'll cover Division 2 and 2A and unsuccessfully lobbied to include Lexington in the preseason Top 20.
- Jonathan Raymond: A native of Benicia, Calif. (a suburb of San Francisco), Jonathan attends Northeastern and has been working at the Globe since the end of June. He will be focusing on Division 3 and is likely woefully underprepared for covering a game in a foot of snow.
- David Carty: A native of West Bridgewater (Go Wildcats!), David is a senior at Emerson College and has been working at the Globe for a year. He'll cover Divisions 3A and 4 because, "small school ball is in my blood."
- The bench: You'll also catch updates from our regional contributors, including Globe North's Julian Benbow and South's Monique Walker. Correspondent Brendan Hall will have updates from the Globe West coverage area and will often try to sneak in Central Mass. news.
It is more than a stretch to say, "The state’s high court today strongly endorsed the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association’s oversight of athletics..." This was an isolated issue with one student in a particular set of circumstances. By no means can or should this court's ruling be interpreted to be an endorsement of any kind by the State's judiciary regarding the MIAA's vast ineptitude across all of the issues, schools and students that have arisen. The record of incompetence and mismanagement at the MIAA is clear and speaks volumes.