Women's High School Player of the Year: Some Don't Think She Deserved the Award

The Kansas Women's High School Basketball Player of the Year was announced as Taber Spani. The only issue is, she does not live in the state of Kansas. How does a young lady like Spani get awarded with player of the year without living in the state?

The issue was first reported by Yahoo Rivals, in an article titled, "Gatorade Award Cause Controversy In Kansas" written by Jeff Fetodin on March 25, 2009.

Well she is home schooled and studies in Missouri of course. Yet, the most important thing to take away from this is that she plays basketball with the Metro Academy Mavericks.

Which is located where? The Metro Mavericks is headquartered in Olathe, Kansas. In fact, the Kansas State High School Activities Association—according to Yahoo Rivals— approved Metro, so they can play other high schools in Kansas. The only thing that Metro was not allowed to do is go through the playoff system.

A majority of the Metro team is in the same boat, according to Bill Bucher, who is the athletic director of Metro live in Kansas. So, is it really that surprising that a player who did extremely well throughout the year, wins the Kansas Women's High School Basketball Player of the Year?

Bucher is quoted as saying, "we've heard that there's been some of that discussion, and it's kind of a ridiculous notion, it would be even more incongruent to say that she's the Missouri player. It would make no sense at all. No one can deny that she's the best athlete in Kansas."

Lee Goodard, a 6A coach of Goodard High School who witnessed first hand how Spani plays, said,"I personally have seen her play and know she's a very, very talented player and is very, very deserving."

Bob Hovey of Hovpensports.com, which is Yahoo Rivals Kansas high school site, gives the most ignorant statement, "Taber's a great player. There's no doubt about," Hovey said. "We would just prefer she be named on the Missouri side."

Even some parents got in on the action, reportedly flooding VaristyKansas.com with complaints ,which is a blog for the largest newspaper in Kansas. The only reason for the challenege is because she lives in Missouri.

Yet, what if the situation was a Metro player who lived in Kansas who won the award? Would there have been any complaints? What about the fact that the team practices in a gym that is part of the Kansas Parks and Recreation?

These parents needs to take a real long, hard look in the mirror and before shooting off angry e-mails to newspapers or Gatorade, who was the sponsor that named Spani the player of the year, maybe they should research some facts and realize that Spani is a great player and won the award because she was the best Kansas had to offer.

These parents rushed to a conclusion without getting all the facts and made themselves look foolish. What hurts their cause even more is that Spani will be playing college basketball at Tennessee.