Yeshiva Girl Hoopsters Teach a Lesson
By Michael Kaufman
Last Thursday afternoon, a group of Jewish high-school girls in the state of Washington gave the adults in the state a lesson in sportsmanship and brotherhood… or maybe sisterhood would be a better word. The girls, members of the Mercer Island Northwest Yeshiva girls basketball team, walked onto the court at the SunDome in Yakima for a scheduled playoff game in the Washington state tournament. They shook hands with the members of the opposing team, St. John-Endicott…. and walked off the court, forfeiting the game
That Thursday was a fast day for many observant Jews, the “Fast of Esther,” the day before the holiday of Purim. The girls would go without both food and water until sundown. When their request to change the game time was denied, officials of the small, 95-student Orthodox Jewish high school near Seattle decided to forfeit.
“We didn’t think it was safe for the team to play without water,” explained Rabbi Bernie Fox, the school’s head. Thus, the first team from a Jewish school to qualify for the state tournament became the first team in state history to forfeit a postseason game. Northwest Yeshiva was aware of the potential scheduling conflict when the initial playoff draw was announced. Had they won their first tournament game earlier in the week, the conflict would have been avoided. But they lost to Sunnyside Christian, putting them into the consolation bracket.
Yeshiva officials contacted the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association (WIAA) prior to the first game to offer suggestions to resolve any logistics problems involved in the potential rescheduling.
“We came up with possibilities that we hoped might be a win-win for all involved,” Fox said. He said the school offered to play the game Thursday evening at an alternate venue and offered to help defray the financial costs of moving the game. Another option was to play the game that evening on St. John-Endicott’s home court. But the WIAA said changing the game would cause too much disruption in the rest of the playoff schedule.
“As to the request that, could we do some rescheduling to deal with this particular issue, that would negatively impact the schedule for all 31 of the other teams involved,” said Mike Colbrese, WIAA executive director, in an interview with the Yakima Herald-Republic. He did not explain just how holding a game on the same date could possibly have a deleterious effect on the schedule for the other 31 teams.
“And if we were to go off-site with (any rescheduling),” he continued, “we’ve basically taken both teams out of their schedule and they end up playing their game at night, not in the afternoon. And they’re also not getting that state tournament experience, which is really what the whole thing is about.”
By that he meant that the two teams would not be playing in the SunDome, Yakima’s answer to Madison Square Garden. After all, the SunDome is the home of the Yakima Valley Warriors. I had to go to the Warriors home page to learn that they are a professional indoor arena football team. Their next big home game is scheduled for April 3 against the Wenatchee Valley Venom. Other events coming soon to the SunDome are a WWE professional wrestling “Smackdown” and the Professional Bull Riders Touring Pro Division. Speaking of bull riding, Colbrese’s explanation is pure bullspit.
“It left us in an awkward situation,” Fox said. “We felt that if we could not reschedule the game, we would at least show good sportsmanship.” So Northwest Yeshiva contacted St. John-Endicott about setting up a meeting on the court instead. The Thursday afternoon handshake was the result.
“St. John-Endicott was very appreciative,” said Fox. “They conducted themselves with perfect sportsmanship.”
It remains to be seen whether Northwest Yeshiva will be sanctioned by the WIAA for its actions. Colbrese told reporters that potential sanctions will not be discussed until later this month. However, he added, “the board is under no obligation to sanction Northwest Yeshiva.” How kind of him.
The Fast of Esther isn’t exactly Yom Kippur and the Northwest Yeshiva girls are not Sandy Koufax….but there are some similarities between the stand taken by the team and the Hall of Fame pitcher’s refusal to pitch the first game of the 1965 World Series. “We worked really hard to get here, to qualify for state,” said sophomore player Julia Owen. “But we’re also very happy to be able to show that our religion is very important to us. Although it’s hard because it would be great to get the chance to continue, we’re not wishing we could ignore the fast and play, because observing the fast is important.”
“Whether you’re in a public school or religious school, you want kids to gather not just knowledge, but values to guide decisions in life,” added Fox. “This was a situation where the team was challenged to do that — to prioritize. And they felt that as important as this basketball tournament was, they couldn’t compromise their personal values. I’m very proud of them.” And so, I suspect, are many others across the country, be they secular or religious, Jewish or non-Jewish. The shame lies with the closet anti-Semites of the WIAA.
Michael can be reached at Michael@zestoforange.com.
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