Teens sue UHSAA over eligibility ruling

Two Utah county teenagers have filed suit against the Utah High School Activities Association because they were ruled ineligible to participate in varsity sports after transferring to American Leadership Academy.

The parents of the two girls — Audrey Harvey, whose daughter Brittany Harvey attended Mountain View last year; and Shirley Baxter, whose daughter Lynzee Baxter attended Spanish Fork last year — filed the lawsuit after the girls lost an appeal on the issue.

The Utah High School Activities Association has yet to be served with the lawsuit, which was filed in Fourth District on October 30.

"It was filed six weeks ago and we have yet to be served," said UHSAA attorney Mark Van Wagoner.

Randy Kester, the attorney for the two girls, said he filed the lawsuit to keep all options open for the students, adding that he hoped they would be able to work out a compromise with the UHSAA. A third girl who was originally a plaintiff in the suit was granted eligibility at Provo High School because her parents had moved.

"That's why I haven't served them," Kester said in November. "If we can work something out, they'll drop the lawsuit."

The girls, who are both seniors, just want to play sports, he said. The coach who allegedly recruited them is no longer at the school, which has dealt with dozens of transfer hearings in its inaugural year as a UHSAA member.

Van Wagoner said lawsuits like this have been filed, albeit infrequently, in the past, although no student has prevailed.

At issue is whether Brittany Harvey and Lynzee Baxter were recruited to attend American Leadership Academy, a charter school south of Spanish Fork. A hearing on the issue was held in September and the three-member hearing panel ruled that the girls were recruited and did transfer for athletic reasons, which is forbidden by state rules, and therefore they were ineligible to play varsity sports.

One of the parents asked for an appeal hearing, which was held in October. The suit alleges the girls' right to due process was violated by the way the hearings were handled and that the penalty took from them the unique experience of playing high school sports as a senior.

Kester said the girls were never given a statement saying what rules they'd allegedly broken. They were also not given a written ruling, which the rules state will occur. He said the appeal hearing was held on a day when he couldn't attend.