Players suspended from game for playing in Unified Basketball

Paige Myers and Jemma Hart got suspended from one basketball game each for participating in a Unified Basketball game. Myers plays on girls varsity basketball and Hart plays on varsity and junior varsity as a swinger.  

The Nebraska statewide rule says that, “Any student who participates in an athletic contest other than as a representative of his/her high school during the basketball season shall become ineligible to represent his/her school in basketball for one or more games or the remainder of the season”. 

“This is an NSAA rule that refers to outside competition during the sports season. So because it was a basketball competition and these were basketball players, that’s why the rule applies, ” said Mr. Eric Behrens, Westview Athletic Director. 

Myers said it would have been more fair to be suspended if they had actually shot the basketball. Instead, Myers and Hart ran up and down the court and supported the kids playing.  

Westview self-reported the violation of the NSAA expectation. 

“If someone else had reported it, and not us, then the NSAA could have taken the same action if not worse since we didn’t self-report. We felt it was important, we needed to be transparent with the NSAA, ” said Behrens. 

But these players would not take that game back for anything. 

 “Those two games were something so special, just being there for the kids and being able to be involved in something like that it just felt so good and it felt so good to see them so excited and so happy about what was going on, ” said Paige Myers. 

 “I just feel a big passion and love towards them, not everyone treats them the way that they should be treated. I do my part to treat them like the person that they are, “ said Jemma Hart.