INDIANAPOLIS | Student athletes don't have to travel to Indianapolis to litigate disputes with the Indiana High School Athletic Association, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday in a precedent-setting case involving East Chicago basketball phenom Angel Garcia.

Garcia, who helped lead the East Chicago Central High School Cardinals to a state championship last season after transferring from Lake Forest Academy in Illinois, was initially barred from playing in varsity games.

He won Lake County Superior Court injunctions against the restrictions, but the ISHAA sought to move the case to Marion County.

On Wednesday, the appellate court denied the venue-change request, ruling the Indianapolis-based IHSAA can be sued in any county.

"Essentially, the Court of Appeals has agreed with our position that students should not be forced to litigate their cases in Marion County," said Michael Jasaitis, a Hammond attorney representing Garcia. "Instead, they should be able to file suit in the district where they go to school or reside."

The appellate court declared the IHSAA a governmental organization, which under state trial court rules can be sued in the counties in which the people bringing suits live.

The IHSAA had argued it should be treated as a not-for-profit organization, which, in most instances, can be sued only in the organizations' home counties. But the court ruled that because public school athletes are required to join the IHSAA, the association should be treated as a government body.

IHSAA Commissioner Blake Ress declined comment Wednesday, saying he had yet to review the appellate court opinion or consider its ramifications. The IHSAA could appeal the ruling to the Indiana Supreme Court.

After the Garcia dispute this spring, the IHSAA added a clause to its physical release form stating that all disputes with the association must be litigated in Marion County. Student athletes must sign the form in order to play.

The Court of Appeals said its ruling Wednesday was the first to interpret whether the IHSAA is a government body, meaning the opinion could be used to mount a challenge of the association's new litigation policy.