Winning Reversal: HSLDA Proves Teen Qualifies for Wrestling Squad

Several Wisconsin homeschool students are now the proud owners of trophies they couldn’t have earned had their parents simply accepted local officials’ misguided interpretation of the law.

With HSLDA’s help, a homeschooling family has successfully challenged the assertion that their three older boys did not qualify to join the wrestling programs at their local public schools.

HSLDA Staff Attorney Amy Buchmeyer contacted public school officials on behalf of the family last fall and explained that the district’s objections were based on an outdated view of homeschooling that didn’t square with Wisconsin law.

“Homeschooling now looks a lot different than it has in the past few decades,” Buchmeyer said. “The problem is that some officials want to put homeschooling in a box—when in reality homeschooling is all about breaking out of that box.”

Status Called into Question

The difficulty arose shortly after the beginning of the traditional school year. At the recommendation of a family friend, the boys had joined a non-school wrestling program over the summer. Feeling they were ready for more structure and stiffer competition, in the fall the parents signed up their sons for wrestling through the local public schools.

They were taken aback when their 15-year-old son didn’t receive confirmation that he was approved to join the high school wrestling squad. When they inquired about the situation, he was referred to the district’s athletic director.

The athletic director told the parents that the family’s participation in a homeschool co-op that meets across the state line in Minnesota disqualified the oldest son from wrestling with the high school team.

“He said that we had to have one hundred percent of the education in our own house,” the father recounted. The director said his son would otherwise be considered a private school student, which meant his participation with the public high school could disqualify the entire team from competition according to the rules of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA).

The parents researched Wisconsin homeschool law and learned the athletic director was mistaken. The dad checked with the athletic director, who did not make it clear that practices and workouts were off limits until eligibility was resolved through WIAA.

“After approximately a month and several email and phone requests I thought things were good,” the dad recalled. But when his son showed up to work out with the team, the athletic director called the coach and said, “Don’t even let him on the mat.”

Road to Victory

The situation turned around when the parents asked HSLDA to intervene. Buchmeyer pointed out to officials that the family was indeed homeschooling and that they do reside in the district—which are the only qualifications their students must meet in order to participate in local public school extracurricular activities.

She also explained that there is nothing unusual or disqualifying about homeschooling families participating in parent-run co-ops or taking part in other educational activities outside the home.

“The officials hadn’t run into this situation before,” Buchmeyer recounted. “And the fact the family was in a Minnesota homeschool co-op added another layer of confusion. The athletic director was rightly being cautious, because the high school wrestling team was at risk if he got this wrong.”

She added: “In the end we were able to provide a third-party perspective that brought the law into clarity.”

The family’s sons have since participated enthusiastically with their respective public school teams. The three older boys have competed in school district events, while the younger two remain active in the local youth wrestling program. Their high school son recently took first place in a multi-school, multi-state junior varsity competition. The younger sons have likewise all placed in multiple tournaments and helped their team’s overall performance.

“We’re so grateful to HSLDA,” the parents said.