Girls hoops team banned for uniforms wins appeal

March 4, 2015 / Basketball
A California high school girls basketball team that was booted from the postseason for wearing illegal uniforms will be reinstated.

BasketballHoopNarbonne High School won its appeal and will play on Saturday for the section championship. However, the team will not go completely unpunished, as head coach Victoria Sanders has been suspended for the remainder of the season.

The school was removed from the postseason after wearing uniforms with pink numbers during a game last weekend. The team did it in support of breast cancer awareness, but it did not receive a waiver to wear colors that weren’t part of its traditional team colors.

From the L.A. Times:

Sanders has been suspended for the remainder of the season as part of a trade-off that allowed her team to continue. That means she cannot guide her team in the title game or in the state playoffs should Narbonne advance. Also, the girls’ basketball program will remain on probation through next season and the school will not be allowed to host a girls’ basketball playoff game at Narbonne’s home court in 2016. 

“I can accept it,” Sanders said of the punishment. 

In a statement, the appeals panel said it reinstated the team as an attempt “to meet the spirit of the rule and place kids first.”

Roger Blake, executive director of the CIF, praised the appeals panel decision. In a statement, he said the original punishment was “not appropriate” and encouraged the section’s leadership to review all of its bylaws and penalties to assure that any sanctions fit the infraction.

The Times reports that Narbonne will also be on probation all of next season, at the same time being prohibited from hosting any playoff games.

The full story from the L.A. Times can be found here.


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