Highland Park High School scraps team trip to Arizona

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/05/highland-park-basketball-team-trip-to-arizona-scrapped.html

May 12, 2010 5:58 AM | 29 Comments | UPDATED STORY

Reveling in its first conference championship in 26 years, the Highland Park High School girls varsity basketball team has been selling cookies for months to raise funds for a tournament in Arizona. But those hoop dreams were dashed when players learned they couldn't go because of that state's new crackdown on illegal immigrants.

Safety concerns partly fueled the decision, but the trip also "would not be aligned with our beliefs and values," said District 113 Assistant Superintendent Suzan Hebson. That explanation, though, smacks of political protest to parents upset by the decision.

The news, which was broken to the team Monday by coach Jolie Bechtel, comes as critics of Arizona's controversial law call on professional athletes and others to boycott the state.

Last month a New York congressman asked Major League Baseball to pull next year's All-Star Game from Phoenix, and protesters recently picketed Wrigley Field when the Arizona Diamondbacks played the Cubs.

[B2G]

1. This is bullshit

Not fair to the kids at all.

[Hangingon]

2. +1

[Missy Vixen]

5. Of course there would be no backlash at all if the school made the trip

The longer the rest of the country turns a blind eye to what's going on right now in Arizona, the longer they'll get away with it.

[Iggo]

6. Oh, they'll live.

And if it helps to get the law changed in AZ, then it's worth it.

[B2G]

12. It won't and it's not. n/t

[Iggo]

13. It will and it is.

B-)

[B2G]

14. Disagree. n/t

[Iggo]

15. I know. I'm just playin'. (n/t)

[B2G]

16. Ah. Well then

:spank:

[LanternWaste]

21. As the depth and breadth

"Disagree..."

As the depth and breadth of your discourse so obviously illustrates to us all...

[marshall]

20. Perhaps some of the players were undocumented

The decision protects their residency in the country.

[EC]

3. They should have asked the kids

first...

[LynneSin]

7. Maybe they did

Or maybe the team has a high number of minorities and fearful of the backlash that could be held against their team.

[never cry wolf]

19. Doubtful

Highland Park is a very posh North Shore suburb of Chicago, one of the wealthiest areas in the country. There may be a few kids who are minorities but not likely more than a few.

[Rebubula]

4. Just ask...

...the athletes that were scheduled to go to Moscow how that all worked out for them.


I have no problem asking people to avoid Arizona (though personally I think most folks are getting into a lather over something that will never really be an issue - different topic for another flamefest), but to punish a basketball team for the sins of Arizona is weak and counter productive. Who does it hurt the most?

[EFerrari]

10. Getting into a lather like the Sheriff of Pima Co. who admantly opposes

this bill? Or, like the family of a Latino Arizonan who was shot to death by his neighbor last week over this law? It's already an issue.

It would be interesting to know how much power the kids had over this decision and what the considerations where.

[B2G]

11. They weren't asked. They were dictated to. n/t

[provis99]

17. so what? School isn't a democracy, you know.

School administrators decide school policy, not whatever the students feel like.

[B2G]

18. Actually, it is in a way

School board members hold elected positions. Guess we'll see how this plays with the voters eventually.

[niceypoo]

8. They probably have hispanic players on the team...

I hope the whole planet shuns Arizona in every possible way. Migratory birds, if you read this, please fly around the state of Arizona on your travels.

[Taitertots]

9. Denied opportunity for the children

to appease the ideological demands of the administration.

[LanternWaste]

22. Just like the college trip we had planned to take...

Much like the sponsored college trip we had planned to take to Johannesburg, South Africa in the 80's. Called off at the last minute become of some ideological demands of conscience.