Board of Ed rejects ban on M.S. athletes in H.S. sports

Wantagh Board of Ed votes not to change policy

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Friends, family members and Wantagh High School wrestlers showed up in strength at the Board of Education planning meeting last week to voice their opinions about a proposal to ban middle-school athletes from joining high school sports teams.

About 25 current and former Wantagh wrestlers, their parents and others attended the July 31 meeting. Among the group were family members of wrestling champion Jonathan Loew.

Loew graduated from the high school in June, after capping his six-year career by capturing the state title in the 195-pound weight class. “I probably couldn’t have written a better ending,” he said. He began wrestling for Wantagh High as a seventh-grader, at 99 pounds.

His father, Irwan Loew, said he learned of the proposal in the days before the board meeting. It was unclear why Wantagh Athletic Director Jennifer Keane was proposing the ban.

Nassau County Legislator Steven Rhoads, a Wantagh High alumnus, said that attendees had been told that the board was considering a blanket ban on the participation of seventh- and eighth-graders in any high school level sport. He said that the level of competition and the physical and mental demands are not the same for all sports, however.

“Athletes should be able to compete at the level they are competitive at,” Rhoads told the board, “so they can grow and develop as an athlete.”

“Everybody talks about sports being a metaphor for life, and it really is,” he said after the meeting. “Why would you deny kids the opportunity to be able to experience that, and to be able to learn from it and apply it to their high school career, even if they’re in middle school?”

Rhoads added that athletes competing at the high school level learn discipline, teamwork, how to excel individually, how to win and how “to lose with dignity and grace.”

Hempstead Town Councilman Dennis Dunne also attended the meeting. “I come here supporting the Wantagh wrestling team,” he said. “Please don’t do anything to hurt them.”

Irwan Loew said he believed that the wrestling team, and other sport teams, are like families. Keeping seventh-graders off a team allows them to get into trouble, since they are not attending team practices, he said.

“It’s not about the winning or the losing,” he said. “It’s about family, and getting these kids to do something that’s structured . . . and really watch out for each other.”

“If I didn’t say anything, I’d be wrong,” Loew added. “My son graduated, so I came here to voice my opinion.”

Jonathan’s brother Matt, a 2010 Wantagh High graduate, said he stayed on the middle school wrestling team in seventh grade and moved up in eighth grade. “I think the system works fine the way it is,” he said.

He added that moving up in eighth grade helped him in the long run by giving him a head start against other competitors. “Not having the opportunity to have seventh- and eighth-graders that are capable of competing on the team [would be] very detrimental to the program,” Matt said. “We’ve been very lucky that we’ve had a good program, and it all starts with the younger kids and having the opportunity to move up.”

After reviewing the opinions expressed during the meeting, the board decided not to change the policy.