Carson Duggar & Theo Noomah
One phone call is all it took to affect the lives of ten student athletes at Homer High School. A blizzard in the forecast did force the cancellation of the school’s Valentines Dance, but it didn’t slow down the teenage socializing on a Saturday night.
Police halted a birthday party after an unknown female reported that there was a party with underage drinking and gave police the address, according to Homer High student. The officers stopped the party; however, they did not cite anyone with Minor Consuming Alcohol (MCA). Kids were not allowed to drive away from the party unless the driver had blown into a breathalyzer and passed. Although it seemed that everyone would walk away from the night with a clean slate, it was a different story for the student athletes at Homer High.
Two varsity boys’ basketball players, two varsity girls’ basketball players and five varsity basketball cheerleaders were all notified Tuesday afternoon that they would be unable to travel with their respective teams to the Region Tournament the following day. Another varsity boy basketball player admitted to being at the party and was disallowed to join the team in the tournament as well.
The players were removed due to the proximity rule. Each athlete signs a document before every sport season that states, “A participant shall not be in attendance at an activity where alcoholic beverages and/or controlled substances are in the illegal possession of other individuals present.”
The Homer High Principal, Dr. Allan Gee, stated after the incident occurred, “We have a great group of student athletes representing Homer High at the Region III basketball tournament- they will walk on the court with integrity, strong moral character, and a positive attitude. There were some poor choices made by good kids this past weekend. Hopefully, all students will learn from this lesson to prevent future incidents.”
Both boys and girls Mariner basketball teams traveled to Regions at Wasilla this past Wednesday to face the tough competition in the Northern Lights Conference. The girl’s team fell in their first game 16-53 against Kodiak and also in their consolation game versus Palmer 23-66. Even though the boys were missing three starters going into the game versus Kodiak, they rallied to an eight point lead at half. Kodiak came back to control the game and the Mariners lost with a final score 48-71. In their consolation game versus Skyview, they also lost with a final score 41-47. It was a very disappointing finish to promising season for Mariner Basketball, according to multiple players on the boys basketball team.