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A private party, alcohol and a uniform athletic code. The mixture killed the Bear River Bruins girls varsity basketball season Tuesday.
The mess brewing and percolating at Bear River high school has eviscerated into a mound of bad coffee.
It doesn't go down easy and doesn't come up easy either.
The facts are this: 10 of the 11 girls on the school's basketball team, as well as members of the school's snowboard team, a cheerleader and a boys basketball player, were at a party with alcohol as we currently know it.
Bear River's administration, including Principal Jim Nieto, assistant principals Cindy Gordon and Tony Quirarte and athletic director Duwaine Ganskie, directed an investigation in which cell phones were confiscated, MySpace pages were used as evidence and accusations were made about the character of each suspected student, according to the parents of the students.
Through the process of this investigation, MySpace pictures were downloaded and some feelings were hurt. (No slight intended.)
A press release was formulated, a contingent of parents became outspoken about the issue (whom are likely to follow up with attorneys at hand to protest) and the Bruins girls basketball season has been forfeited.
The major contention of this issue, and its subsequent punishment, is the letter of the law that is being followed, i.e. the school's athletic code and whether or not it should be applied in the first place.
Without getting all lawyer-ish on you, the athletic code, as it pertains to this issue, states in section K:
"Any violations of CIF, school and/or district policies, rules, and/or regulations which occur during a school-related activity will be dealt with according to this Athletic Code AT ANY TIME AND IN ANY LOCATION. This includes during non-school hours, non-school days, and includes all locations, whether local, out-of-state, or in a foreign country as outlined by the NJUHSD Field Trip Policy."
Those caps aren't even mine and if it were up to the parents I've spoken to "school-related activity" would jump out at you and Bear River's administrators.
To be fair, the athletic code comes out clearly against drinking in section J, as it should. But the issue that a certain faction of the parents are worried about is whether or not the administration can call a private party in Granite Bay a school-related function. And for that matter, can the investigation process be legit without the parents' consent?
One the parents, Mike Spencer, said that the administration perceives the party as a "team-building" affair and Nieto said the confiscation of cell phones is normal in this kind of situation although he did not confirm that students were forced to give way to their MySpace photos.
There have been other issues just like this, with less question on the authenticity of the school's relation. Nevada Union's baseball team, which is also governed by the same athletic code, had seven Miners sent home in 2005 for an athletic code violation on an official trip to San Diego. Those Miners were suspended for seven games.
At my alma mater Chico State, the girls softball season was canceled in 2006 after a recruit overdosed on alcohol on an official visit. Members of the team were either suspended or booted from the university.
But the underlying theme of these conduct code violations has nothing to do with whether or not the students were at school-related functions - but it is here. And there was never an issue of alleged search and seizure without warrant on minors.
There are valid points that a faction of the parents have against the cancellation of the season, and then there is a strong valid reason that the spirit of the code should be followed. The kids shouldn't be drinking alcohol in their free time. Most parents I've spoken to not only agree with that, but think the kids should have been punished in some way.
But on their terms.
Whether this becomes an issue decided in the court of law is irrelevant. It's already been elevated to Superintendent Ralf Swenson's level (who is out of town currently) and can possibly go as far as the board of education, as has been suggested.
But what won't get fixed is underage drinking, irresponsible parents and hard-line administrators who all won't collaborate on behalf of the kids.
The season is a loss and waste.
The girls basketball program is fractured, with parents taking sides and administrators pointing the blame at the kids.
There's no winner here. Just hard lessons and swallowed spite. Something tells me, somebody could've done better.
ooo
Zuri Berry is a sports writer at The Union. His column appears Wednesdays. Contact him via e-mail at zberry@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4244. You can also read his blog online at TheUnion.com.
The mess brewing and percolating at Bear River high school has eviscerated into a mound of bad coffee.
It doesn't go down easy and doesn't come up easy either.
The facts are this: 10 of the 11 girls on the school's basketball team, as well as members of the school's snowboard team, a cheerleader and a boys basketball player, were at a party with alcohol as we currently know it.
Bear River's administration, including Principal Jim Nieto, assistant principals Cindy Gordon and Tony Quirarte and athletic director Duwaine Ganskie, directed an investigation in which cell phones were confiscated, MySpace pages were used as evidence and accusations were made about the character of each suspected student, according to the parents of the students.
Through the process of this investigation, MySpace pictures were downloaded and some feelings were hurt. (No slight intended.)
A press release was formulated, a contingent of parents became outspoken about the issue (whom are likely to follow up with attorneys at hand to protest) and the Bruins girls basketball season has been forfeited.
The major contention of this issue, and its subsequent punishment, is the letter of the law that is being followed, i.e. the school's athletic code and whether or not it should be applied in the first place.
Without getting all lawyer-ish on you, the athletic code, as it pertains to this issue, states in section K:
"Any violations of CIF, school and/or district policies, rules, and/or regulations which occur during a school-related activity will be dealt with according to this Athletic Code AT ANY TIME AND IN ANY LOCATION. This includes during non-school hours, non-school days, and includes all locations, whether local, out-of-state, or in a foreign country as outlined by the NJUHSD Field Trip Policy."
Those caps aren't even mine and if it were up to the parents I've spoken to "school-related activity" would jump out at you and Bear River's administrators.
To be fair, the athletic code comes out clearly against drinking in section J, as it should. But the issue that a certain faction of the parents are worried about is whether or not the administration can call a private party in Granite Bay a school-related function. And for that matter, can the investigation process be legit without the parents' consent?
One the parents, Mike Spencer, said that the administration perceives the party as a "team-building" affair and Nieto said the confiscation of cell phones is normal in this kind of situation although he did not confirm that students were forced to give way to their MySpace photos.
There have been other issues just like this, with less question on the authenticity of the school's relation. Nevada Union's baseball team, which is also governed by the same athletic code, had seven Miners sent home in 2005 for an athletic code violation on an official trip to San Diego. Those Miners were suspended for seven games.
At my alma mater Chico State, the girls softball season was canceled in 2006 after a recruit overdosed on alcohol on an official visit. Members of the team were either suspended or booted from the university.
But the underlying theme of these conduct code violations has nothing to do with whether or not the students were at school-related functions - but it is here. And there was never an issue of alleged search and seizure without warrant on minors.
There are valid points that a faction of the parents have against the cancellation of the season, and then there is a strong valid reason that the spirit of the code should be followed. The kids shouldn't be drinking alcohol in their free time. Most parents I've spoken to not only agree with that, but think the kids should have been punished in some way.
But on their terms.
Whether this becomes an issue decided in the court of law is irrelevant. It's already been elevated to Superintendent Ralf Swenson's level (who is out of town currently) and can possibly go as far as the board of education, as has been suggested.
But what won't get fixed is underage drinking, irresponsible parents and hard-line administrators who all won't collaborate on behalf of the kids.
The season is a loss and waste.
The girls basketball program is fractured, with parents taking sides and administrators pointing the blame at the kids.
There's no winner here. Just hard lessons and swallowed spite. Something tells me, somebody could've done better.
ooo
Zuri Berry is a sports writer at The Union. His column appears Wednesdays. Contact him via e-mail at zberry@theunion.com or by phone at 477-4244. You can also read his blog online at TheUnion.com.
