• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Mom Wants Yom Kippur Off School Sports Schedule

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +
Oct 8, 2008 6:46 pm US/Mountain

Mom Wants Yom Kippur Off School Sports Schedule

Reporting
Andrea Lopez
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) ― The mother of a high school athlete says sporting events shouldn't be held on religious holidays. Her daughter's gymnastics meet was scheduled for Wednesday. It's also the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar.

Lisa Buechler tried to get the meet at Overland High School rescheduled for another night, but was not successful. However the Cherry Creek School District moved the meet up to accommodate a couple of Jewish competitors so they could still attend services.

School districts typically schedule sporting events a year in advance. Buechler said she would like to see the districts do some advanced planning around important religious holidays.

"I've objected to it and I've objected every year," Buechler said. "I know that we are minority and the majority of this country are Christians, but I just think there could be a little more respect for specific holidays. This is the equivalent of having this event on Christmas Eve."

The Cherry Creek School District says it has 50,000 students and it would be highly unusual to reschedule a sporting event based on one request.

"We have 100,000 athletes across that state, so trying to work around individual needs comes pretty tough," Paul Angelico with Colorado High School Activities Association said.

Angelico says most of the time scheduling is up to the districts and CHSAA doesn't have a say.

"During the regular season, none," Angelico said. "During the post season we have asked all of our schools involved in regional tennis to work around the Jewish holidays."

The Anti-Defamation League sent out a letter Wednesday saying students shouldn't have to choose between their faith and sporting events. It suggests CHSAA should set a clear policy to schools that sporting events shouldn't be held on Jewish holidays.

(© MMIX CBS Television Stations, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Weird News

You need the latest Flash player to view video content.
Click here to download.

Click here to bypass this detection if you already have the latest Flash Player.

CBS4 Sports

Top News Stories

© MMIX, CBS Television Stations Inc. All Rights Reserved.