Latest news with #athleteRights
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Protester pepper-sprayed at CIF track finals in Clovis featuring transgender athlete
A protester supporting a transgender female athlete at the California state track and field championships in Clovis was pepper-sprayed Friday during an altercation outside the track meet, police said. Clovis police spokesperson Ty Wood said officers responded to a physical altercation between two adults at the intersection of Nees and Minnewawa avenues outside Veterans Memorial Stadium where protesters representing both sides gathered. One of them was pepper-sprayed by a person in a vehicle at the intersection. Police arrested a 19 year old, Wood said. The man was booked into Fresno County jail on suspicion of felony assault with a deadly weapon (not a gun), vandalism and obstructing/delaying an officer. The altercation reflected the environment outside the venue as people gathered for the first day of the two-day day meet that includes the participation of a transgender athlete. President Donald Trump singled out the athlete in a social media post Tuesday in which he threatened to withhold federal funds from California for allowing transgender females to compete in school sports. Before qualifying started at 1:45 p.m., there was a crowd of about 10 protesters gathered outside the stadium, receiving honks of support from passing cars. They were there to show support for female athletes. 'I just want to speak up for fairness for all the athletes,' said Dayla Anderson of Fresno, adding it was unfair cisgender girls were set to compete with a transgender girl. Midway through Friday's competition, an aerial banner that read 'No Boys in Girls' Sports' began circling over the stadium. Protesters said they would return Saturday, the final day of the meet. The transgender athlete was met with applause and cheers from the crowd at Veterans Memorial Stadium during her events. The Bee is not identifying the athlete. She qualified for Saturday's championships in three events: the high jump, long jump and triple jump.
Associated Press
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Zakai Zeigler, SEC's 2-time defensive player of year, suing NCAA to play 5th season in 5 years
Two-time Southeastern Conference defensive player of the year Zakai Zeigler is suing the NCAA over rules limiting him to four seasons in a five-year window as an unlawful restraint of trade under both federal and Tennessee laws. Zeigler's lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. The point guard played four seasons at Tennessee, helping the Volunteers to consecutive Elite Eight berths before graduating earlier this month. The Vols went 109-36 during Zeigler's time with the school. Zeigler was a third-team All-American this season, which ended with Tennessee's loss to eventual national runner-up Houston in the Elite Eight on March 30. 'We have requested a preliminary injunction to allow Zakai to compete in the upcoming season while pursuing his graduate studies,' according to a statement from the Garza Law Firm and Litson PLLC. 'We look forward to a swift resolution of this matter so that Zakai can begin preparing for next season.' The NCAA said in a statement the association fully supports athletes profiting from name, image and likeness along with other benefits and is working for such reforms, which includes a proposed $2.8 billion settlement of an antitrust lawsuit. 'A patchwork of different state laws, executive orders and court opinions, make it challenging for any league to operate on a fair playing field, including at the conference level and that's why partnering with Congress to develop a national standard would provide stability for student-athletes and schools everywhere,' the NCAA said. This latest lawsuit against the NCAA notes Zeigler 'diligently completed his undergraduate degree in four years' and graduated this month. That makes Zeigler's lawsuit different from athletes who started careers at junior colleges or lower-division NCAA schools and are seeking a fifth season. Yet the NCAA rule limiting athletes to four seasons during a five-year window keeps Zeigler from playing a fifth season and earning NIL money in 'the most lucrative year of the eligibility window for the vast majority of athletes,' according to the lawsuit. Athletes who redshirt or take five years to finish an undergraduate degree can earn NIL money each of their five years. The lawsuit also points to the NCAA's redshirt system controlling who gets access to a fifth year of eligibility. The lawsuit asks that the NCAA rule be declared a violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and Tennessee's Trade Practices Act. ___ AP college basketball: and
Washington Post
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Washington Post
Non-scholarship athletes argue proposal to fix roster-limit rule in lawsuit does not go far enough
A court filing in the multibillion-dollar college sports lawsuit argues the proposed remedy for the roster-limit rule holding up the case does not go far enough in protecting walk-on and other athletes who lost their spots when schools started cutting players in anticipation of the settlement being approved. Attorneys for Michigan walk-on football player John Weidenbach and Yale rower Grace Menke filed a brief last week responding to the proposal that any athlete who had lost a spot because of the roster-limit rule not count against the cap when it goes in place next school year.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Non-scholarship athletes argue proposal to fix roster-limit rule in lawsuit does not go far enough
A court filing in the multibillion-dollar college sports lawsuit argues the proposed remedy for the roster-limit rule holding up the case does not go far enough in protecting walk-on and other athletes who lost their spots when schools started cutting players in anticipation of the settlement being approved. Attorneys for Michigan walk-on football player John Weidenbach and Yale rower Grace Menke filed a brief last week responding to the proposal that any athlete who had lost a spot because of the roster-limit rule not count against the cap when it goes in place next school year. Advertisement It's the roster caps that have prevented U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken from approving the $2.78 billion settlement, which is designed to allow schools to pay players directly beginning later this year. Wilken suggested any athlete already on a roster be 'grandfathered in' for the rest of their college career, so as not to count against the new roster limits. The limits, while expanding scholarship opportunities across all sports, are expected to cost thousands of athletes — most of them walk-ons or on partial scholarships — their spots on rosters. Wilken is accepting objectors' filings through Tuesday, then giving the NCAA and plaintiffs through Friday to rebut those arguments. The court filing on behalf of Menke and Weidenbach argues the solution proposed by the NCAA and plaintiffs 'fails in numerous respects' to protect those athletes. Advertisement Among its arguments is that the proposed remedy makes restoring players to roster spots completely optional for the schools that cut the players. It also says the directive for schools to make a list of players it cut because of roster limits — the list would then be used to determine which players should not count against the new caps — leaves room for the teams to make up other reasons for cutting the players. 'It provides student-athletes with no opportunity to challenge those decisions or prove that roster caps, rather than something else, caused them to be cut,' the filing said. The NCAA and plaintiffs argue that since none of these roster spots was ever guaranteed, a provision allowing players back on their old teams to compete for their spot leaves them in no worse a situation than before they got cut. But the filing argues the damage has already been done by schools that cut players with the expectation that Wilken would approve the settlement — an assumption the judge said was incorrect. Advertisement 'Counsel continues to hear from many athletes and their families whose lives are being turned upside down as a result of the implementation of roster caps,' the filing said. 'Defendants' indifference, when simple fixes were offered to address a problem of their making, is stunning.' Among the objectors' proposed fixes was for schools to automatically restore players to their old roster spots, while giving them 'discretion to cut athletes for legitimate reasons unrelated to the roster cap, such as conduct violations and poor athletic or academic performance.' Under the latest proposal, the players would be able to either go back to their old schools or find a new one, but either way, they would not count against that school's roster limit. ___ AP college sports:
Associated Press
11-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Non-scholarship athletes argue proposal to fix roster-limit rule in lawsuit does not go far enough
A court filing in the multibillion-dollar college sports lawsuit argues the proposed remedy for the roster-limit rule holding up the case does not go far enough in protecting walk-on and other athletes who lost their spots when schools started cutting players in anticipation of the settlement being approved. Attorneys for Michigan walk-on football player John Weidenbach and Yale rower Grace Menke filed a brief last week responding to the proposal that any athlete who had lost a spot because of the roster-limit rule not count against the cap when it goes in place next school year. It's the roster caps that have prevented U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken from approving the $2.78 billion settlement, which is designed to allow schools to pay players directly beginning later this year. Wilken suggested any athlete already on a roster be 'grandfathered in' for the rest of their college career, so as not to count against the new roster limits. The limits, while expanding scholarship opportunities across all sports, are expected to cost thousands of athletes — most of them walk-ons or on partial scholarships — their spots on rosters. Wilken is accepting objectors' filings through Tuesday, then giving the NCAA and plaintiffs through Friday to rebut those arguments. The court filing on behalf of Menke and Weidenbach argues the solution proposed by the NCAA and plaintiffs 'fails in numerous respects' to protect those athletes. Among its arguments is that the proposed remedy makes restoring players to roster spots completely optional for the schools that cut the players. It also says the directive for schools to make a list of players it cut because of roster limits — the list would then be used to determine which players should not count against the new caps — leaves room for the teams to make up other reasons for cutting the players. 'It provides student-athletes with no opportunity to challenge those decisions or prove that roster caps, rather than something else, caused them to be cut,' the filing said. The NCAA and plaintiffs argue that since none of these roster spots was ever guaranteed, a provision allowing players back on their old teams to compete for their spot leaves them in no worse a situation than before they got cut. But the filing argues the damage has already been done by schools that cut players with the expectation that Wilken would approve the settlement — an assumption the judge said was incorrect. 'Counsel continues to hear from many athletes and their families whose lives are being turned upside down as a result of the implementation of roster caps,' the filing said. 'Defendants' indifference, when simple fixes were offered to address a problem of their making, is stunning.' Among the objectors' proposed fixes was for schools to automatically restore players to their old roster spots, while giving them 'discretion to cut athletes for legitimate reasons unrelated to the roster cap, such as conduct violations and poor athletic or academic performance.' Under the latest proposal, the players would be able to either go back to their old schools or find a new one, but either way, they would not count against that school's roster limit. ___ AP college sports:
