Suburban Youth Football Team Wants Suspension Overturned For Including Academically Gifted Player on Roster

A suburban Chicago youth football team wants its suspension overturned and be allowed to compete in the playoffs.

The league suspended the Glenwood Cougars' 8th grade football team for including a 13-year-old academically gifted player on the roster. Tremayne Gandy Junior is technically in high school after jumping ahead a few grades from 7th grade last year to 10th grade this year.

"This is something extraordinary, this is something we should celebrate,” said Glenwood Football Coach Gary Richardson. "What message are we sending to them? That education is not the right way? No, that’s not what we do here in Glenwood."

The Southwest Midget Football League has suspended the entire Glenwood team for having a high school player on the roster, which is against the league rules.

The league emailed a statement to NBC 5 which said in part, “… it is regrettable to enforce a disciplinary action that affects the wider organization, however, each of the thirteen franchises in the league have agreed to honor these bylaws in exchange for fair play."

The Rainbow Push Coalition is supporting the team in its efforts to overturn the suspension.

"To have the right to play taken from them is unconscionable, unethical and somewhat criminal," said Bishop Tavis Grant, acting national executive director of the Rainbow Push Coalition. "There is no sporting organization that has this kind of rule that if you do better in classroom you can’t play on the field. So Reverend Jackson and I have made calls to Roger Goodell of the NFL."

Below is the full statement from the Southwest Midget Football League:

We recognize that it has been a difficult couple of weeks as the league has navigated through this challenging time. The Board of Directors of the SWMFL (Southwest Midget Football League) have come to the unfortunate decision to take action due to a broken bylaw (Bylaw Article 4, Subject G) on behalf of the Glenwood Cougars Football and Cheerleading franchise, thus resulting in the disqualification of the Glenwood Cougars from the 2022 post season playoffs. As Bylaw Article 4, Subject G states: No player shall be registered if he/she is entering high school.

As leaders of the SWMFL, we are driven by the advancement and potential of each and every one of our players, from the Mighty Might to Varsity levels. Although we are ecstatic to learn of the brilliance that a player within our league possesses and proud to witness his advancement into high school at an early age, it is under the supervision of SWMFL Board of Directors to assess and establish bylaws for the cohesiveness of team morality. As part of our mission to inspire our youth to learn and practice the ideals of sportsmanship and fair play, we are honored to learn that one our very own has academically excelled well past his peers into high school due to hard work, dedication, and investment into his academics. The path to success is never easy, yet this player has continued to show commitment to his academics and for that we acknowledge and honor his time with the Glenwood Cougars.

It is never easy to establish disciplinary action on any franchise in our league; despite this, it is imperative that as the Board of Directors of SWMFL that we heed our position as the governing body of the league to place authority to make decisions that need immediate attention or will have an impact on the operation of the SWMFL. In any case such as this, it is regrettable to enforce a disciplinary action that affects the wider organization, however, each of the thirteen franchises in the league have agreed to honor these bylaws in exchange for fair play.

We understand how this decision has affected the SWMFL community and regret that this has resulted in division amongst us. Our thoughts and decisions are always intended for the betterment of the game, our fans and supporters, and most importantly our players and cheerleaders. We hope that our supporters recognize our due diligence to abide by established bylaws to avoid similar breaches in the future.

We are proud to represent the Chicagoland youth football and cheerleading community and we will continue to strive for fairness and the well-being of our players for this season and the seasons to come.

Sincerely, SWMFL Board of Directors