Before Section 504 and ADA, Howie Was Ineligible to Participate
Could you study the picture below?
Why did I wear a T-shirt, not a track uniform?
Why did I run on Lane 8 instead of Lane 4 or 5, which was reserved for the fastest one?
In the summer of 1963, the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) declared that I was ineligible to participate in any sport during my senior year (1963-64) due to the overage rule (by two months.) Coach Ronald Bradley of Fairview High School of Dayton, Ohio, did an excellent job explaining to OHSAA officials about deaf education, which delayed my progress in school and placed me two grade levels behind most non-deaf students my age.
But the OHSAA showed no sympathy and denied me, period, because the age rule stated that when a student turned 18 on September 1, he/she became ineligible for interscholastic athletics. My birth month is July.
Now, the current OHSAA age rule is up to 20 - thanks to Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Back to the picture. The coaches of Fairview’s opponent teams knew my hurdle greatness and allowed me to run as a “mouse toy” to enable young hurdlers to break their personal records.
Twelve years later, in 1975, CSUSOP Commissioner Edwin Moses’ baby brother, Vincent, broke my Fairview record by placing fifth in the 180-yard hurdle event in the OHSAA Track and Field Championships. No one has broken Vincent’s record because Fairview High School closed in 1982, so his name is shrined forever, like Edwin’s super Olympic performance.
