Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

When I took part in high school sports, an era which I will only identify by saying it came sometime after the introduction of the forward pass, I was fortunate to play for a football program that was so small we didn’t have tryouts.

My town in downstate Illinois had a population of 1,600, my graduating class was in the neighborhood of 60, and our sports teams, especially football, needed every man they could get.

Like I said, I was fortunate, because I wasn’t all that good yet I had an almost guaranteed spot on the roster.

There are apparently no such guarantees from the Maumelle High School basketball program, even if a kid passes a tryout, even if he passes two tryouts.

Teresa Bloodman is suing the school, the Pulaski County Special School District and the state (talk about shooting from downtown), because her freshman son was bumped from the team after three months following a third tryout that led to football players replacing nine of 11 original basketball players.

The freshman had successfully gone through two tryouts in August.

Bloodmans’ suit was filed in October and has been followed by months of motions and hearings.

Parents have been lobbying coaches to play their kids since the dawn of youth sports –I’m sure back in the Paleolithic era little Gronk Jr.’s mom had a fit because her boy was left out of a rock fight.

But this does seem a little unfair. If the Maumelle freshman had already made the team – twice – just what does he have to do to hang onto his spot anyway?

However Bloodman’s lawsuit, which appears to target just about everyone but the Daughters of the Confederacy, takes a unique approach. According to Cameron Smith’s “Prep Rally” blog on Yahoo.com, the suit says Bloodman’s son is being denied a “full and complete education which includes competition in sports” and alleges that the lack of an appeals process for students who were cut is a violation of due process.

My knowledge of legal affairs was gleaned from overhearing Judge Judy broadcasts while folding clothes at the laundromat, so I don’t want to endanger myself by getting too deep into analysis. I would say only that Bloodman is taking her very best shot.

If she was suing just to get her son back on the team I doubt the case would get anywhere because young men, sad as it sounds, get cut all the time. The case still might not get anywhere (the district says it is groundless) but by taking it into the realm of due process and educational opportunities denied, Bloodman at least gives it some heft.