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MAY/JUNE
June 21, 2018 - Red Creek, NY - Red Creek Parent Is The Latest To Find Out That Courts Do Not Exist To Act As Review Boards For Officials' Calls. See Judge tosses Red Creek parent's lawsuit over basketball player's ejection, reported by Jeff DiVeronica, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle. DiVeronica quotes New York Supreme Court Judge Scott Odorisi, who wrote, "Courts are valuable tools to resolve disputes," Odorisi wrote in his decision, which was released Thursday, "but they should not be transformed into a Replay Command Center or GameDay Central for every school, or even recreational, sporting squabble." Despite Odorisi's wise counsel, it's only a matter of time before some other parent sues to reverse an official's call.
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June 15, 2018 - Kent, OH - You've Gotta Have Money To Play Youth Sports - Even In Middle-America. See Has Playing Youth Sports Become A Luxury, reported by Michael Leonard, MytownNeO.com.
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June 14, 2018 - Pennsylvania - Guilty Plea Entered In The Hazing Death of Penn State University Fraternity Pledge, reported by Darran Simon, CNN. For details on this incident, see Death At A Penn State Fraternity, reported by Caitlin Flanagan, The Atlantic, November, 2017.
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June 8, 2018 - Chicago, IL - Sexual Abuse Crisis Hits Chicago Public Schools - And It Goes Well Beyond Abusive Coaches. See Betrayed: Chicago Public Schools Fail To Protect Students From Sexual Abuse, Leaving Lasting Damage, reported by David Jackson, Jennifer Smith Richards, Gary Marx, and Juan Perez, Jr., Chicago Tribune. System-wide failures, including weak background check procedures, and weak child abuse reporting procedures played a major role in this crisis.
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June 7, 2018 - Lockport, Ill - Illinois high school starts an officiating class to address severe shortage of officials. See Lockport High School Class To Address 'Worst Shortage of Officials' For Youth Sports, reported by C.R. Walker, Chicago Tribune's Daily Southtown Newsletter.
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June 4, 2018 - Connecticut - Will Feelings On Transgender Athletes' Participating Change When The Transgender Athletes Win? We're seeing it in Connecticut where two transgender girls won State track medals. This is different than the Texas wrestling case where a transgender boy on medical testosterone couldn't participate as a boy because Texas makes you compete in your birth gender. The transgender boy won the State girls' wrestling championship - showing the limits of restrictions on transgender athletes. But, Connecticut embraces transgender athletes. They're not Texas. However, they have a Texas problem as some Connecticut coaches who were pleased to have transgender athletes compete may not be all that happy now that transgender athletes are starting not only to compete, but to win. See No Easy Answers When It Comes To Transgender Athletes, reported by Jeff Jacobs, Connecticut Post. And it didn't take long for the backlash to come! Indeed, some people do feel differently when the transgender athletes win. See Some Calling For Rule Change After Transgender Track Stars Smoke Competition, reported by Amy Hudak, WTNH-TV (New Haven, CT), June 13, 2018.
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May 31, 2018 - Louisiana - Louisiana Enacts Tough New Hazing Law. Hazing goes from a misdemeanor to a felony, and the legislature provides a definition for hazing. See Louisiana Toughens Laws Against Hazing After Student's Death, AP Wire Story in usnews.com. See Also Louisiana House Unanimously Supports Making Hazing a Felony, BestofNewOrleans.com, April 2, 2018. Click here to see the actual Bill.
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May 23, 2018 - Washington, D.C. - U.S. sports leaders face angry questions at congressional hearing, reported by David Wharton, :Los Angeles Times.
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May 22, 2018 - Boston, MA - Massachusetts School Adopts New Gender Inclusive Rule for Sports Teams, reported by David Bienick, WCVB-TV.
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May 17, 2018 - Detroit, MI - Officiating Shortages Worsen In Michigan. See Ref Shortage In Metro Detroit Spells Trouble For Youth Sports, reported by Matthew Smith, WXYZ-TV
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May 17, 2018 - Dallas, TX - 25-Year Old Man Poses As HS Student To Regain Basketball Glory. See How could a 25-year-old athlete enroll as a high school freshman in Dallas ISD?, reported by Julieta Chiquillo and Sara Coello, Dallas Morning News.
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May 16, 2018 - Forney, TX - Sexual Hazing at Forney High School In Texas. See Hazing is a crime. Why aren't high schools doing more to stop it?, reported by Tanya Eiserer, WFAA-TV, Dallas, Tx.
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May 5, 2018 - New Jersey, The Director of the Sports Concussion of New Jersey Questions Whether the Recent Multi-State Legislation To Ban Youth Tackle Football Before Age Is Premature. See Concussion expert: Should we ban tackle football before the age of 12?, by Rosemarie Moser, Ph.D., Opinion Column in NJ.com.
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May 4, 2018 - Mt. Zion, IL - Serious Injury Prompts Talk of Softball Masks, reported by Joey Wagner, Matoon, Il. Journal Gazette & Times Courier. This article is a follow up to Wagner's article in the Decatur Herald & Review, covering the injury. See Mount Zion Junior Ally Bruner Home After Line Drive To Face, April 24, 2018.
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May 3, 2018 - Mobile, AL - Ritualistic Beating of High School Football Player Rodney Kim, Jr. See Alleged Hazing Attack By High School Football Team Caught On Camera, reported by Stephanie Wash, ABC News.
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May 2, 2018 - Dalton, GA - No suspensions for Bruins after brawl with LaGrange, reported by Jacob Hoag, Dalton (GA) Daily Citizen-News. Sometimes you get away with one - no suspensions appear to have been issued in a post-game handshake baseball fight.
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LATEST COLLINS ARTICLES/INFORMATION
Association Intervention, Referee Magazine, May 2018, page 80 (National Association of Sports Officials).
FROM THE ARCHIVES
December 24, 2017 - Mexico - Another Soccer Referee Is Killed By A Player. Mexican Referee Dies In Hospital After Being Attacked By Player He Sent Off, Sports Illustrated, January 1, 2018.
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August, 2015 - Title IX has done a lot for girls, but the benefits of Title IX are slower to trickle down to schools with high concentrations of minority and low-income students. See Finishing Last: Girls of Color and School Sports Opportunities, National Women's Law Center Report.
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Of The People, By The People: How To Ensure That Legislators Hear Your Voice, Referee Magazine, July 2001 page 42 (co-authored by Jennifer Rardin).
