A petition has been created to change academic eligibility requirements in sports in North Carolina after a Richlands High School soccer player was benched her senior year.
Richlands High School senior Caitlynn Guarino learned she was not able after being told by her coach the classes she was taking in the fall weren’t enough.
The NC High School Athletic Association requires students to pass a minimum of three courses on a block schedule in order to participate in sports the following semester.
Guarino took advanced placement classes and found out later that credits were not awarded until the end of the school year instead of at the end of a semester. As a result, she was ineligible to play soccer, according to the NCHSAA.
Onslow County Schools filed an appeal to the NCHSAA on Guarino’s behalf, which was denied.
Another appeal was filed to the NC Department of Public Instruction and was also denied.
The petition at Change.org by Ian Mcfarlane called for the state association to, “Allow NCHSAA Athletes Taking AP Classes To Play Despite Not Meeting Credit Requirements.”
It also states that athletes shouldn’t be, “Punished for excelling in the classroom.”
As of Monday morning, nearly 3,600 signatures had been collected.
See the petition here: https://www.change.org/p/allow-nchsaa-athletes-taking-ap-classes-to-play-despite-not-meeting-credit-requirements?source_location=search
