THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 5, 1994 TAG: 9408050703
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MARC DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
Granby High School's leading football player, a 19-year-old who repeated two grades in elementary school so he could learn to read, is suing the Virginia High School League in federal court for refusing to let him play this fall because he is too old.
The VHSL bans students who turn 19 before Oct. 1. The Granby player, Lorenzo A. Thompson, turned 19 in May.
Thompson's attorneys filed a federal lawsuit Thursday, asking that the age limit be struck down as unconstitutional. Thompson also seeks a temporary injunction so he can join his teammates when practice starts Monday.
Thompson was Granby's defen
sive captain and leading scorer last season, running for 299 yards and seven touchdowns as a fullback and linebacker.
``The VHSL has no rational basis for excluding (Thompson) from playing football and all other VHSL-sponsored contests, including debate, drama and spelling bees,'' the lawsuit says.
But league officials say the age limit, which dates to the 1940s, protects younger students' safety and ensures equity among teams.
``There have been waivers on a few occasions in the past,'' said league Executive Director Ken Tilley, ``but this rule is one that's probably upheld more than any other rule.''
This is the first time anyone has challenged the age limit in federal court, Tilley said. It has been upheld in several state court cases, most recently last summer in Botetourt County, he added.
Beyond the larger issue, the case has immediate and personal consequences for Thompson.
A football scholarship is Lorenzo's only hope of attending college and having a better life, said his mother, Rhonda Thompson. If Thompson cannot play, his chance of being recruited to college is much smaller, his mother said.
In a letter to the league, Rhonda Thompson said her three sons ``believe that getting an education is the way to having a better life.'' On Thursday she added, ``A scholarship would be (Lorenzo's) avenue to an education.''
The teenager's attorney, Lawrence H. Woodward Jr. of Virginia Beach, said Thompson has a good disciplinary record and is supported by his principal.
``He wasn't someone who was held back to gain a competitive advantage, or was progressing slowly through school because he was a disciplinary problem,'' Woodward said. ``He was held back early on so he could get his reading and math skills up to speed.''
Thompson was held back in first and third grades, at his teachers' request and with his mother's permission.
Thompson learned of the limit this spring, his mother said. He asked the Eastern District council for a waiver, but lost, then appealed to the league's executive committee. He lost that case Wednesday.
Tilley, the league director, declined to comment on Thompson's case, but said waivers are granted only in cases of extreme hardship. Former league director Earl S. Gillespie said the league has never issued a waiver to a student who is more than four months over-age. Thompson is 4 1/2 months over-age.
If Thompson cannot play at Granby, his mother said, he may switch to a prep school with no age limit. He hopes to attend a large state school like the University of Virginia or Maryland, she said.
A judge will hear Thompson's request for a temporary injunction Tuesday. The teenager will be represented by Virginia Beach lawyer Thomas B. Shuttleworth. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Thompson
by CNB