re: Down Syndrome kid kicked off football team

We had a "special" coach. They gave him coaches clothes, a legal pad and a high lighter and let him hang around practice and on sidelines.

He didn't really get in the way much and kept to himself. One away game about half way through the 1st quarter someone realized he wasn't around. One of the managers started looking for him. About ten minutes later he spotted him sitting on the other teams bench.

We had a few "special" players and managers.

I remember one game one of our DTs gets injured and limps to the sideline and a coach shouts "I need a tackle" clearly meaning one of the guy's back ups. Well the special dude immediately just darts out onto the field and into the huddle. Yeah we had to take a timeout

One thing to be sure of after this: nobody a day over the age limit is going to play high school sports in North Carolina for a long time.

Maybe a creative interpretation of what it means to be "dressed" for a game can be used in his case. I can understand keeping him out of special appearances in the real game if he is technically ineligible. I don't see much harm in letting him wear cleats and pads as long as he doesn't play until after the game.

How do these special needs programs work? The article said it is his "senior year." Is he truly going to graduate from the high school and no longer be a student? I'd lean more towards a waiver if he was moving on from the school after this year.