DISCRIMINATION AGAINST DISABLED PEOPLE BY ATHLETIC VENUES, HIGH
SCHOOL ATHLETIC CONFERENCES AND THE NCAA
This research paper examines the extent of legal protection presently afforded to disabled persons involved in high school and college athletics. The primary focus is upon amateur athletics but cases in the field of professional sports are mentioned where they provide relevant precedents for amateur athletics.
The legal protection afforded disabled persons generally and in sports has been considerably expanded during the past two decades, primarily as a result of the enactment of two federal statutes, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (RA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1993 (ADA). Through the interpretations made by the courts, primarily federal courts, as to the scope and meaning of these statutes, regulations issued thereunder, and companion state laws, the discretion of athletic officials at all levels in dealing with disabled persons has been greatly affected and substantially narrowed. However, in the principal areas in dispute between the disabled and those with authority over them in sports, eligibility, employment and accessibility, less than sure guidance can be gleaned from the burgeoning case law as to the rights, duties and equities of the parties involved.
Changing Legal Approaches to the Disabled in Athletics
Traditionally, disabled student athletes, like other disabled persons in America, had few, if any, legal rights, because society regarded them as a problem, decisions concerning whom should be left to the authorities involved. According to Champion, "handicapped athletes were regularly restricted under a paternalistic attitude. Even after [receiving] medical assurance that athletic participation would not harm the individual, school boards would still restrict participation." School officials were said to be acting in a parens patriae capacity to safeguard the welfare of the stud...