Judge rules IHSAA must let South Bend Washington senior play football

By ALICIA GALLEGOS, Tribune Staff Writer

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Judge rules IHSAA must let South Bend Washington senior play football

Eric Woods (photo provided)

By Jason Overholt

Story Created: Oct 23, 2009 at 11:24 AM EST

Story Updated: Oct 23, 2009 at 3:11 PM EST

SOUTH BEND - A judge has granted a Washington High School senior the right to play football, ending a lengthy dispute between the teenager and the Indiana High School Athletic Association.

Special Judge for St. Joseph Circuit Court David P. Matsey filed his order approving the preliminary injunction about 10 a.m. Friday, according to court officials.

The order means Eric Woods, 17, is allowed to play in Friday night's Washington High School football game and will be eligible for varsity sports in any future games.

The IHSAA previously ruled that Woods was eligible only for junior varsity sports, because they said his family was in violation of IHSAA rules when he transferred from Adams High School to Washington.

The ban meant Woods could not play varsity sports for one year from the time of his last varsity game at Adams. That 365 days is up on Oct. 31. But a court hearing on Tuesday centered around two games which come before that time and whether Woods should be allowed to participate.

In Matsey’s ruling, he wrote that the “potential injury to Eric in preventing him from playing in the first two IHSAA games of the 2009 Sectionals football tournament greatly outweighs the potential threat and harm the preliminary injunction would inflict on the IHSAA.”

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