Mom sues school after son fails to make varsity soccer team

SAINT LOUIS, MO (WCMH) — The mother of a Missouri teen is suing her son’s school in federal court, claiming her son was the target of age and sex discrimination.

He was rejected from both the varsity and junior varsity soccer teams.

At Ladue Watkins High School if you are a junior and don’t make the boys varsity team you cannot play again on the JV team.

The school says this is to allow freshman and sophomores a chance to develop their skills so that in later years they will be prepared to try out for varsity.

The mother of a Ladue junior who did not make the varsity cut does not think that’s fair.

She believes her son, who already played on the JV team, is good enough play JV again.

The coach sent the family an email that says their son was on the bubble when it came to picking varsity team members.

He wrote the boy has holes in his technical ability and games decision making.

The family appealed the coach’s ruling to the superintendent who decided the family’s complaint was unsubstantiated.

The mother’s suit claims her son is the victim of age and gender discrimination because she says the rules are different for the girls’ soccer team.

“I think if the judge follows the law and looks at the evidence of you know Jon Doe’s skills, we have a decent chance,” the student’s lawyer Paul Maddock said.

It came out in testimony from the coach that the seven juniors cut from the varsity and JV team did not measure up to the other kids on the JV team.

And the reason the coach said nice things to the student was to build up his self-esteem, not punch him when he’s down.

“So we always focus on the positives, encourage our kids to keep working and be a part of getting better though out their high school career,” Ladue High School Activities Director Nick Gianino told KTVI.

The judge is expected to decide Monday if the student will be placed on the JV team.