By Paul LaTour
Naperville Central senior Casey Short won't be defending her state titles in the 400-meter and 800-meter dashes this spring. Instead, the Florida State-bound Short, who will play soccer for the Seminoles, will rejoin the Redhawks girls soccer team, where she played as a freshman.
DuPage Valley Conference rules prevent Short from playing two sports in one season, meaning soccer fans have been deprived of seeing one of the area's top talents. Now track fans will be deprived of seeing if she can win the 800 for a third consecutive year or win another 400 title.
Other conferences allow an athlete to play both, including the East Suburban Catholic Conference. In recent years, boys soccer players Kevin Kron and Ben Aguilar also served as placekickers for the Benet football team.
So is DVC wrong for forcing an athlete to choose one sport over another? Let us know what you think.
You can read more about Short's decision in Wednesday's Sun.
Why go to Florida State? She should go to the premier quarter mile school in the nation. BAYLOR!!!! Clyde Hart is the Head Coach for Sanya Richards, the world's best 400 M runner.
I find it hard to believe that the DVC won't let a talented athlete participate in two sports at the same time as long as the kids parents, the school, and the coaches are OK with it. Yet another example of bureacratic pinheads running peoples lives. Let the kid do both!!! And get off where she has chosen to go to school. That is her choice.
I just wanted to point out that I amended my original post. I clarified that Short is going to Florida State to play soccer, not run track. Sorry if there was any confusion about that.