By Staff
It is sometimes hard to tell the difference between right and wrong.
That is because we tend to put blinders on when it comes to certain situations.
In Louisiana on Wednesday, the high school athletic association announced that it was stripping Bastrop High School of its 2005 state football championship because of the recruitment of players from Port Sulphur, which lost its high school and homes during Hurricane Katrina.
The state took away its title and declared the two remaining Port Sulphur members of the Bastrop team ineligible for this season.
It sounds a bit harsh due to the circumstances that brought those players from the Gulf Coast region of the state to Bastrop High School, which is near the Arkansas border.
But when you look at the broader picture, it was a step the state had to take.
If you only have tunnel vision, you might not see that these players did not come to Bastrop on their own accord. They came to the school via a former Port Sulphur assistant coach.
There definitely were outside influences at work here.
If you don't focus on the fact that these players were displaced by the hurricane and lost virtually everything because of the storm, you might see they were drawn to this high school for the wrong reasons.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) allowed student-athletes to migrate to other schools which were still open and playing sports.
But those rules did not intend for coaches to come into the Gulf Coast region and "recruit" players for their programs.
If they simply showed up at various high schools on their own, they were declared eligible for competition.
Unfortunately, there are some pretty immoral people out there – even at the high school level.
These people took advantage of the system, and in some cases, these kids, to "win at all costs."
Is the punishment too harsh? Yes, and no.
The LHSAA had to strip Bastrop High School of its championship because they benefited from illegal recruitment of players. The athletic association had to take away the title to be fair to teams that played within the rules in Class 4A.
The LHSAA had to look at the "bigger" picture here and not use tunnel vision like so many of us do.
But we are not so sure that the two remaining players should be declared ineligible for all sports this coming year. This seems a little too much when you consider the assistant coach who instigated this entire situation was only banned from coaching in games. He can still coach in practice. We think this coach should be banned from all extra-curricular activities for at least the same amount of time, if not more.
Officials at Bastrop High School claim they had no knowledge of the dealings put into place by this assistant from Port Sulphur. The school was fined $14,000 and given a one-year administrative probation.
They are, of course, appealing the LHSAA decision.
Regardless of who was right and who was wrong here, the problem we have with this situation is that immoral people took advantage of a horrible situation and made it worse.
And who are the ones getting hurt by this?
The children, of course.