Gorches: Time for the IHSAA to go away

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Updated: January 3, 2012 10:42AM

Maybe this Scrooge mantra fits me.

Last week I mentioned some of the things in local and national sports I’m not thankful for, going against the norm.

This week I’m just angry.

Angry at the unfair, inconsistent system of high school sports in the state of Indiana.

Angry at the process of kids being treated unfairly. Not allowing some kids to transfer schools, no matter how viable the reason seems, while allowing others to transfer even if it’s obvious there are unscrupulous reasons.

It just doesn’t stop.

I still remember the Angel Garcia fiasco at East Chicago Central in which the Indiana High School Athletic Association spent way too much money on legal fees — that’s our hard-earned tax money being spent — to carry the fight against Garcia being allowed to play for the Cardinals way too far, only to lose in the end — twice.

Not only did the IHSAA fall short of winning the case, but the Cardinals went on to win the state title and got to show off that nice big trophy in the faces of the same IHSAA officials who tried to keep Garcia off the basketball court.

Soon after that, there was another case involving sisters Amanda, Krystle and Melanie Troyer, who transferred from Mishawaka to Elkhart Memorial because they moved in with their father, Jon, after their parents’ divorce since they didn’t get along with their mother.

The IHSAA said no, that they had to stay at Mishawaka, a 20-minute drive from their father’s house in Elkhart, because they thought it was for athletic reasons.

The IHSAA lost that case too, with the Troyer sisters helping lead Memorial to the state championship volleyball match the next year before losing to New Castle.

Sadly, the IHSAA doesn’t lose every superfluous eligibility case.

Almost a year ago to the day, Julie Hogg and her brother Jon transferred from Hebron to Boone Grove due to financial reasons — their father Lyndon was dealing with cancer and was unable to maintain the family’s farm. So moving to a smaller property was necessary, and that destination happened to be in Boone Grove’s Porter Township school district.

The funniest part is that Jon — who competed in cross country and basketball — was allowed to play at Boone Grove while Julie — a participant in volleyball, basketball and track — was not allowed to play basketball that season.

The attorney in that case was Mike Jasaitis out of Crown Point.

Jasaitis has a similar disdain for the IHSAA process of higher authority that determines transfers — he was also one of the attorneys in the Garcia and Troyer cases, and he has another one downstate that looks like it might end up as a win for the IHSAA.

He’s defending the family of Eli Walker, who transferred from Alexandria High School to Yorktown for academic reasons. But the IHSAA says because he’s a wrestler and because his father, Mark, had a disagreement one time with the Alexandria wrestling coach, that dad decided to pull Eli out of Alexandria for athletic reasons.

Turns out the Walkers are just looking out for the best academic interests of their son.

Novel concept, huh?

Wish more parents did that.

You see, Eli’s grades were declining at Alexandria, and it was determined through parent-teacher meetings that Eli was “distracted in large part due to the social behaviors of his peers, which affected Eli’s ability to pay attention in class.” In other words, bad friends led to Eli getting two Fs and a D in his classes, as well as being tardy multiple times.

So the Walkers determined it would be best to pull Eli out of Alexandria and enroll him at a different school. Madison-Grant was considered, but they decided Yorktown was best suited to help Eli due to certain academic programs.

The IHSAA said it was due to the wrestling program.

The judge at a hearing earlier this week in Muncie agreed with the IHSAA, so this case might go to the IHSAA even though it’s another example of irresponsible legal action.

Did I mention you and I are paying for these IHSAA cases?

Eli actually wanted to stay with his friends at Alexandria and continue wrestling there. Instead, his parents made an executive decision, and it’s worked out academically — Eli’s grades are much better at Yorktown — even though he can’t compete in athletics until April, 2012.

Want more irresponsible IHSAA decisions? How about Munster transfer Danilo Zekovic having to sit the Mustangs’ first four boys basketball games because he played with a club team in Serbia up until Dec. 15, 2010.

Zekovic moved to Munster to live with his legal guardian, his uncle. So what does his club team in Serbia — a half a world away — have to do with his eligibility in Indiana? As stated in the story in Wednesday’s Post-Tribune, Munster coach Mike Hackett has no idea why the IHSAA ruled the way it did.

He’s not alone in this and several other questionable rulings.

It’s time for the IHSAA to either change its transfer rules drastically — how about getting rid of them since kids and parents are going to do what they want no matter what the rules are — or just go away.

Yes, you read that right. If the IHSAA — which should stand for Indiana’s Horribly Sustained Athletic Association — thinks it’s OK to keep spending our money on meaningless transfer cases, then let’s get a new group to run everything.

It would be better for the kids.