Choosing between heritage and basketball

PORTAGE | All Maurice Sims wants to do is to play basketball.

But a rule may keep the 13-year-old Willowcreek Middle School seventh-grader from taking to the courts next week.

Maurice, the son of the South Haven residents Maurice and Latresa Sims, wears short braids -- commonly referred to as cornrows -- throughout his hair. He's worn it that way since he was about as tall as a basketball.

Among the list of rules for Portage basketball players -- from varsity down to middle school -- is that their hair cannot be worn in braids if they want to play on the team.

Maurice's parents are contesting the rule, calling it arbitrary and discriminatory. The hair style, they say, is a part of his heritage and tradition. His grandfather and great-grandfather wore their hair that way.

School officials say the rules, put into place three years ago by Portage High School head varsity boys basketball coach Rick Snodgrass, are there to build a team and instill discipline.

As long as the rules are reasonable and equitably enforced, said Superintendent Mike Berta, he will back Snodgrass's enforcement of them.

Maurice made the team at the middle school after playing Portage Youth Basketball and in a traveling league. His hair was never in question then, his parents said. He's been making practices since they began, but he's been given a Monday deadline to conform with the rules or be removed from the team.

His parents are not going to force Maurice to cut his hair.

"It's not about fashion or anything like that. It is about his culture," his father said. "It is part of his culture, his identity. I don't feel he has to be stripped of his identity."

"I'm not saying it's racist," Latresa Sims said. "They need to look at the culture period. The policy is not taking into account diverse cultures."

Portage High School athletic director Jeff Smith said the rules for the boys basketball program were put in place three years ago when Snodgrass became head varsity coach. Snodgrass had the same rules for 22 years prior to coming to Portage.

"Individuals can strive in a team concept, but a team cannot strive in an individual concept," said Smith, adding each head coach sets his or her own rules for athletes. The rules may vary from sport to sport, coach to coach.

When Snodgrass first imposed the rules, said Smith, some parents "raised their eyebrows," but none contested them. The Portage High School varsity team is nearly 50 percent African-American.

The rules, he said, are about how the coach wants the team to be represented to the community. Facial hair isn't allowed. Boys have to wear suits and ties to school on game days. They can't wear earrings during play.

Smith added that each student-athlete is given a contract at tryouts listing the rules. The athlete and their parents must sign the contract.

Maurice Sims said he signed the contract acknowledging the rules but that doesn't mean he agrees with them.

James Daugherty, a Merrillville attorney who is representing the family, said it is a matter of the schools looking at the family's request on an individual basis. Making him change his appearance to meet the rules is discriminatory because Maurice wears the braids to represent his heritage and culture.

Chris Kaufman, communications director for the Indiana High School Athletic Association, said it is not unusual for schools or coaches to have such rules, but his organization does not become involved in those policies.