Education

Lawmakers hear claims OSSAA applies rules unevenly, denying students fair play

November 5, 2025

Ray Carter

The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association’s oversight is often inconsistent and arbitrary, depriving numerous students of participation in sporting events, including youths dealing with family tragedies or escaping abuse at a prior school, lawmakers were told during a legislative study this week.

But the OSSAA’s defenders waved off those concerns.

“Student athletes are not being denied an opportunity to participate in high-school sports,” said Mark Vancuren, a former coach and former state representative. “Student athletes are being required to follow rules set forth by the 482, I believe, member schools of the OSSAA. They can always play at the school from which they’re wanting to transfer.”

But family members and students told a very different story to members of the House Common Education Committee.

‘Unnecessary Pain and Unfair Treatment’

Cindy Morey told lawmakers that OSSAA’s arbitrary actions led her son, Jesus, down a path “full of unnecessary pain and unfair treatment.”

In April 2024, Morey’s husband committed suicide. Her adult daughter was having severe medical problems during that time, which led her to move back home. Morey said she was dealing with depression and other mental-health issues related to those events, and she ultimately concluded it would be best for Jesus to live with his adult brother, Francisco, who enrolled Jesus at Oklahoma Christian Academy (OCA), a private school in Edmond, in the spring of the youth’s junior year.

Morey said the family chose OCA because it was a “small faith-based school where we believed that he could heal and grow spiritually.”

“I’m proud to say that it worked,” Morey said. “Jesus thrived at OCA. He continued to be a straight-A student, as he did all through his school years. He continued to be a member of the National Honor Society and an active churchgoer. He got baptized. He built strong relationships and found peace again.”

But Jesus was soon informed that OSSAA was denying him eligibility to play sports at his new school during his senior year.

Initially, OSSAA officials objected that Jesus did not have a hardship waiver. When the family obtained one, OSSAA objected that the older brother’s legal power of attorney over Jesus did not suffice, so the family went through the process of providing Francisco with temporary guardianship of Jesus. Then OSSAA objected that the older brother did not have permanent guardianship, so the family went through the process to make that happen as well. Then OSSAA denied Jesus’ eligibility because he had qualified for a scholarship at Oklahoma Christian Academy. The youth ultimately did not play sports during his senior year.

“After we met every requirement that they gave, OSSAA simply moved the goalpost,” Morey said. “Each time we produced what they asked for, they found a new excuse. My son did nothing wrong. He followed every rule, met every requirement, and lived with his integrity. He was targeted, disrespected, and robbed of something that he had worked hard for since he was six years old: a chance to play football his senior year and go on and play at the next level.”

She said it was “devastating” to Jesus to lose that opportunity “without fairness, without a voice.”

“What made it worse is knowing that OSSAA would have allowed him to play any sport or football if he had enrolled in a public school within my (older) son’s district, which would have been Edmond Santa Fe, or returned him back to Douglass High School— just not at Oklahoma Christian Academy. That inconsistency shows that this was never about rules, but it was about control.”

State Rep. Tim Turner, R-Kinta, noted that children placed in foster care by the state are allowed to play sports at their new district, and questioned why Jesus Morey would be treated differently simply because he was living with an adult sibling.

“What would make that a difference of denial and approval than what we would see if the state took custody of that child?” Turner said.

Attorney Says It’s Not an Isolated Problem

Hannah Whitten, an attorney who represented several Glencoe youths who recently sued over the OSSAA’s denying them athletic eligibility, said the Morey family’s experience is not an isolated example of OSSAA’s inconsistent application of its own rules.

“They arbitrarily switch rules in the middle of an eligibility crisis,” Whitten said. “The Glencoe case is a perfect example.”

Earlier this year, OSSAA denied athletic eligibility to four boys who transferred to Glencoe High School, alleging they were recruited by Glencoe Coach Garrett Schubert. OSSAA denied eligibility even though the organization was provided a sworn affidavit from one parent explaining that her son was transferring after being mistreated by a coach at his prior district.

Kent Rossander, one of the Glencoe youths, told lawmakers he was denied eligibility because OSSAA officials claimed he participated in an athletic camp at the school before enrolling. But Rossander was injured and unable to participate. Then, OSSAA argued he should be denied eligibility because he was present at the event to cheer for his friends.

“I’ve never really understood why my eligibility was taken from me,” Rossander said, “and really had a lot of questions that weren’t really answered.”

Whitten said OSSAA officials are violating “due process of minors in the state of Oklahoma in several different ways.”

Since the publicity surrounding the Glencoe case, Whitten said she has been contacted by 57 other families or school officials dealing with OSSAA’s denial of athletic eligibility at a transfer school.

For every $10 paid at a school athletic event, about $7 goes to OSSAA, she said.

“Unlike the OSSAA, these people can’t use taxpayer money to hire lawyers,” Whitten said.

David Jackson, executive director of OSSAA, told lawmakers most transfers are granted athletic eligibility.

“Over a two-and-a-half-month period at the beginning of school, we have processed 1,060 of those requests,” Jackson said. “We have, as a staff—just at the staff level—approved 1,003 of those. That’s about a 95 percent approval rate. And I think that number goes to show we want students participating.”

He said the OSSAA’s “link” rule, which bars athletic participation when officials suspect a student has been recruited by a coach, is supported by most school members of OSSAA.

“Schools have always been concerned about students that want to follow a coach that maybe changed jobs,” Jackson said.

But state Rep. Toni Hasenbeck, R-Elgin, noted the large number of transfers who are allowed to play sports undermines the recruiting rationale.

“I know of a school that plays sports and they have a team and, apparently, 22 of the students on their team were not there last year,” Hasenbeck said.

She said that suggests many students are allowed to move freely between districts and still play sports, while other similarly situated students are not.

Jackson said OSSAA officials understand there is an appearance problem.

“It makes us seem very inconsistent with our rules,” Jackson said.

Rep. Turner noted that OSSAA does not prohibit school “recruiting” of students with good academics or skills in other extracurricular competitions overseen by OSSAA.

“If we have a child transferring schools to chase a math teacher, would we deny their eligibility?” Turner asked.

“No,” Jackson responded. “Again, we enforce the rules that our school administrators want enforced, and they’ve never indicated that they would like to have a rule that applied to curriculum.”

Tom George, CEO of QB Impact, which provides training and sports camps to students, said students can and do transfer to other districts because of specific instructors.

“If I want to follow my math teacher, my son’s math tutor, he can,” George said. “If my daughter wants to follow her music instructor, she can. I know because she did it her junior year. She followed her music instructor. Nobody called me and said, ‘You can’t do that.’”

Vancuren dismissed the concerns raised by parents and advocates without addressing allegations of inconsistent application of OSSAA rules.

“At its core, rules are rules,” Vancuren said. “And upholding established rules is essential to ensuring that school sports remain what they were always meant to be: an extension of the classroom, a celebration of teamwork and discipline, and a vital part of the educational experience for every student athlete in Oklahoma.”

But Morey urged lawmakers to bring OSSAA, which has been deemed a “state actor” by the courts, under greater oversight to prevent future abuses.

“I don’t want another family to go through what we did,” Morey said. “You can tell it’s still hard for us to talk about. The OSSAA should be about supporting students, not tearing them down. It should be about fairness, transparency and communication, not secrecy and exclusion.”