I mean.....come on!!!! The Ohio High School Athletic Association apologized to football player Bobby Martin of Colonel White High in Dayton after the referees barred him from a September game because he was not wearing the required shoes and knee pads. Martin was born without legs and plays on the punt return team, moving quickly around the field with his arms. An OHSAA official said the referees were just being overly cautious, but Martin said, "That's the first time in 17 years" that someone had made him feel disabled. (At halftime, Martin briefly considered tying some shoes around his chest and attempting again to play.) [Cincinnati Enquirer, 10-1-05; Sports Illustrated, 10-17-05]
That referee should be fired. He had to have a little common sense? I didn't know if that was serious when I read it but that is an absolute disgrace
Let's all just come to the knee jerk reaction that the referee is at fault. I'm wondering why the Ohio High School Athletic Association didn't inform their officials that they were aware and approved this young man's participation in football games. It's easy to blame the refs, but if the association hadn't approved his participation and injury came to this player, then the officials may have left themselves open to a lawsuit. I'm sure that a HIGH SCHOOL REF is paid soooooooo much that he could care less if he gets sued because someone didn't follow the proper procedures in clearing this athlete to play. We know that high school associations pay their officials so much that they can afford any lawsuit that comes their way and because these officials are so rich, they couldn't possible have a business that might suffer should a handicapped athlete become further handicapped during a game because of their negligence, So, for those who are already casting stones, what would you do in their place? I know where I work there is insurance to address lawsuits UNLESS I do something really stupid then I'm on my own. So, where would you draw the line?
Okay, the referee is there to enforce the rules. And the rule obviously states that a player without required gear is to be sent of the field. The referee obviously thought that if he didn;t enforce the rules he would get fired or whetever. In all fairness though, who did he think would say one bad word to him regarding a handicapped child with no legs not wearing kneepads?? It gets to the point where you just have to show some common sense even if he had of talked to the coach to see what other referees did in the situation. That kind of treatment is both embarassing and degrading.
I think that the what the ref did was wrong. But, also I can understand why the ref would do it under one situation. If he's a fairly new ref and obiously has never been in that situation. It comes down to the fact that the ref wasn't thinking. I hope that the ref was man enough to personally applogize to the kid. The whole disussion of the ref being afraid of him getting hurt and then the kid sueing is not really that strong. The reason I say this is when I played football and when I was in wrestling, my parents and I had to sign a wavier. It pretty much stated that if I got hurt that neither schools or the refs can't be sued due to an injury. It also stated that I must be insured. I broke my arm in wrestling in the 7th grade and than I had a broken leg in the 9th grade while I was playing in a football game. Do I blame any one? No, because I understood and took that risk.
