Georgia legislators turned their attention to high school athletes Wednesday.
Two companion bills aimed at leveling the playing field for all high school athletic teams were heard by the House and Senate Education committees. HB 870, sponsored by Rep. Brian Strickland sailed through committee and subcommittee, while Sen. Burt Jones’ SB 309 was heard but received no vote.
Both bills state that any high schools “that receive state funding cannot participate in an athletic association which prohibits religious expression on the clothing of student athletes,” and that “high schools that receive state funding cannot participate in an athletic association which prohibits member schools from organizing and playing scrimmage matches, games, or other athletic competitions with nonmember schools.”
Strickland (R-McDonough) said he filed the bill after being approached by a local school in Henry County — a small school that belongs to a different athletic association that the GHSA — who was having trouble scheduling games in their area.
“They are being forced to travel across the state to have a meet or game,” said Strickland. “If two schools want to play each other, and they have the same safety standards, they should be allowed to do that. We don’t want parents to have to choose between academics and athletics.”
Both bills are also designed to ensure the student athlete’s rights to express their religious beliefs. Strickland explained that the legislation stemmed from an incident when a student was disqualified from a track meet because of religious writing on his headband.
The House Education committee agreed — — as long as national federal rules regarding uniforms are followed.
Education Committee Vice-Chairman Rep. Mike Dudgeon reminded committee members of a rule that dictates what the students athlete “can or can’t have on the uniform or body during competition.”
“I support this bill 100 percent, I just want to make sure we aren’t saying you can ignore the rules,” said Dudgeon.
House Education Chairman Brooks Coleman also added that the student “was given two warnings about the headband and defied them both.”
Strickland’s bill now moves to the Rules committee.
HB 16, sponsored by Rep. Brian Prince (D-Augusta) will no longer be necessary after the Georgia High School Association Executive Committee agreed today to let students enrolled in magnet schools participate in sports at their home school.
