Bill to Eliminate IHSAA is Withdrawn

USA Today provides readers of its February 25th edition the news that Rep. David Niezgodski (D-South Bend) of Indiana has formally withdrawn a bill whose aim was to give control of high school athletics to the state government.

According to The Indianapolis Star, Niezgodski “withdrew from consideration House bill 1733, which would have given control of high school athletics to the state Department of Education” that thereafter would regulate sporting events for public and private schools and be governed by a nine-member board. It would have also, the article notes, eliminated the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA).

The bill, notes the Star, was introduced earlier this year after the IHSAA ruled that a South Bend Washington High School basketball player Jasmine Watson was ineligible to play on the team after transferring from Elkhart Memorial, which filed a complaint with the association. Elkhart maintained, says Eric Berman on the website for WIBC 93.1 FM, that Watson’s transfer was for athletic reasons, while her family maintained they left the city to escape its worst-in-the-nation unemployment rate. South Bend has since gone 25-0 in girl’s basketball and is currently ranked #1 in the nation by ESPN. The school could, however, have that record wiped out if the IHSAA successfully challenges the eligibility of the 6’3” senior center, a decision expected to be rendered sometime after the state tournament.

Niezgodski argues that the IHSAA should be replaced, maintaining that in action such as that taken against Watson, the association has acted “without regard for athletes and their families,” a statement printed by Evansville Courier Press reads. The state lawmaker announced that he did not, however, wish to fight the lobbying pressure currently being put forward by the IHSAA.