LHSAA Won’t Get Involved With National Anthem Protests
Teams and players all across the country are choosing whether or not to protest the National Anthem, and the LHSAA is going to leave that choice up to them.
With more individuals and organizations wanting to express their opinion regarding the civil unrest in America, the LHSAA and Executive Director Eddie Bonine decided to release a statement regarding protests during the National Anthem:
It was brought to my attention this past Friday, we had multiple protests to the National Anthem by LHSAA member schools athletes and fans. I have met with my executive cabinet, discussed a similar protest which took place in the State of Washington prior to a football game last Friday night sanctioned by the Washington Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA). I have since spoken to LHSAA Legal Counsel and discussed the topic. This said, taking into account the aforementioned conversations, and until advised differently, the following will be the position statement from this office:
The LHSAA is a principal's organization whereas in these situations where the LHSAA Rules and Regulations do not take precedence, any/all decisions related to individual(s), and/or team(s) expression(s) exhibited during any pre-event National Anthem at a LHSAA regular season and/or post season game, match, meet or contest, will be determined by each individual member school and/or member school's school district.
Thank you for your time.
The LHSAA is leaving it up to the schools to decide what happens now. With such a sensitive subject, they decided to let the school's make their own choices.