On Saturday, West Forsyth’s John Green was the third runner out of 226 to cross the finish line in the Class AAAAAA state championship race at Carrollton High School. Soon after collapsing from his effort and offering, as well as receiving, high fives from opponents as they walked by the cool-down tent, Green found out he placed 226th out of 226.
The Georgia High School Association’s inconsistent enforcement of a vague, incorrigible rule is to blame for stripping Green from his greatest race in his senior season.
Green was disqualified by GHSA officials for sporting a white, plain head band with “Isaiah 40:30-31” written across the front—the same head band the Forsyth County News has photo evidence of him wearing when he was not disqualified in last year’s state meet.
According to West head coach Clayton Tillery and others involved in the West program, two GHSA officials cleared Green’s headband before the race. Then, a third man who was not in an official uniform or credentialed made a comment about the headband at the starting line and walked away.
When I approached GHSA officials on Saturday to discuss the ruling I was told “it was a uniform violation,” but when I asked to see in a GHSA handbook where the rule is I was shooed away.
The GHSA links its cross country handbook, a seven-page document, to its website. There are two pages that discuss uniform protocol. Page 4, titled State Meet Cold Weather Reminders, permits “beanies, toboggans, ear covers” of a single color, as long as they only have “one logo” visible. There is no mention of headbands.
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Some people are just evil.
ReplyDeleteAnd the war on Christians continues. Crusades!
ReplyDeleteFreedom OF religion. ghsa is wrong & it needs to be proven so.
ReplyDelete7:20, you are exactly spot on.
ReplyDeleteso those who worship Nike and Under Armour receive special treatment under Georgia State Law
ReplyDeleteThis is absolutely Crazy!!!
ReplyDeleteThey want religion out of everything---
that way most children won't have any
idea about it unless it's taught in
the home.
God help us ALL!
The way it should be.
DeleteYou really want your kids having to learn about Islam in schools?
Who ARE these oh-so-sensitive ninnies who spend their lives looking for something to be offended by....
ReplyDeleteIn their rush to kiss the ace of ONE person who spends his life looking high and low to be offended by SOMETHING, they couldn't even cite a rule for their absurd decision.
Start telling these losers to go suck a .........lemon.
I don't understand all the outrage. He violated the rules, plain and simple.
ReplyDeleteBefore you knee jerk react, tell me what you would say if the head band read "allhu akbar"?
I think that someone simply could have just asked him to remove it, but the fact remains only one brand logo on your head wear, and a bible verse is a message, not a logo.
Seriously, I don't understand all this false outrage. Unless you Christians are allowed to assert your priviledge and ratchet your religion into everything you get all bent out of shape.