Omaha Burke players suspended for playing in special Olympics game

[kaz36]

Pospisil: NSAA rules sideline Omaha Burke players after participating in Special Olympics game

Reed Emsick and Tanner Nielsen were in street clothes for Omaha Burke, ineligible to play in Saturday’s game at Shawnee Mission South in Kansas. Their violation? They played Thursday for

omaha.com

Anyone know the story behind this? On the surface it seems stupid, but was wondering if there’s more to the story.

 

[HappyTrail3200]

I mean, a cross country kid can't run in a charity 5K in the fall for the same reason. Thems be the rules. Luckily, its basketball, and they won't have to sit out for more than just an out of state game anyways. I'd say its getting more hate than it should.

 

[fbgrind]

Is it though? Here we live in a world where it's harder and harder to find good, decent, and kind people. And we have two young men who are doing something out of the kindness of their heart. Being great role models, classmates, decent human beings and but yet they are punished. Now don't sit here and give me "well that's the rule". I get that, I know what the rule says, but why was the rule created? Was it created to stop teaching kids what the right thing to do is? If we make an exception are we really worried now there is going to be a major influx of of Athletes helping with Special Olympics and unified sports to gain a competitive advantage? This was wrong, on all levels. This could have been an easy fix by the NSAA. Instead, they pass the blame to its "members".

 

[kevingne]

From what I understand the member schools do create the rules. Don’t be mad at the executive director for following what he is instructed to do. In my opinion the rule needs to be changed. Imagine if the director chose to make decisions that allowed some people to violate rules think of how much heat they would get then. It’s a lose-lose situation for everyone as it’s setup.