HB 870 Could Change Georgia High School Sports?

In the past few months, the state of Georgia has been the center of the controversy involving religious freedoms and belief. Governor Nathan Deal recently vetoed a bill that brought Georgia a plethora of negative attention and debates. HB 757, a bill that would allow taxpayer-funded organizations deny services based on their religious beliefs faced some turmoil with many reputable companies including UPS, Delta, and the NFL. The bickering has even found its way to the high school ranks with HB 870, which allows high school athletes to express their religious beliefs on their sports uniforms.

This recent dilemma became prominent back in November at the 5-A cross-country state championships. During the event, the third place winner John Green of West Forsyth was deprived of his third place honors because of a headband that had writing on it. The headband had a poem by Ralph Waldo Emerson and bible verse “Isaiah 40:30-31” on it.

The verse states “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord will renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint,” which seemed to be a sign of motivation for the athlete.

The official disqualification took place moments before Green finished the race. The officials at the event reportedly said they warned Green about the headband before they decided to disqualify him. The Georgia high school association let it be known that the decision was not because of religious expression, it was rather because of the headband itself.

“The fact that it was of a religious nature did not enter the decision whatsoever,” The GHSA said in a prepared statement.

Despite the statements, coaches and legislative took notice and are still skeptical about the elimination because wearing a headband is not against the rules and Green needed a headband to contain his long hair especially in the conditions that they were in. Legislatures have got involved since then and is trying to implement HB 870, which is similar to the Senate Bill 309. The GHSA is not in agreement with the bill because it could open the door for students to wear inappropriate symbols on their uniforms and just place it on beliefs. Also, if the bill was put in place, it conflicts with National Federation policy. A conflict with the bill and laws could potentially cause the association to lose four seats in national rulemaking, which could cause the state to lose consideration in the state’s policies.

HB 870 would also allow more cross play between association teams and non-association teams. As of now, there is no cross play allowed between the types of schools even in the form of scrimmages, this limits the competition of private associations which is a disadvantage to them.

Overall the GHSA feels that going against a national policy is not a good idea and The Executive Director of the Georgia Association of Technical Leaders Jimmy Stokes testified against the 309 bill stating “to be careful about micromanaging private associations.”