For seniors in high school, college season is in full swing. Thousands of students in East Cobb are choosing where they will continue their education, quite a few being student athletes. In February of each year, high schools around the nation host a Signing Day, in which students who have been awarded athletic scholarships from universities sign National Letters of Intent for a collegiate sport with a university that is a member of the United States National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
Jenna Sayler, a senior at Lassiter High School, has been awarded a scholarship from Life University to play D1A rugby. “I’ve been playing for 3 years,” Jenna says. “I got into it after my brother started playing, then I noticed at a tournament that girls could play so I gave it a shot due to interest in trying something new!”
After receiving the scholarship and being excited for Signing Day quickly approaching, Jenna was then told that she would not be allowed to sign because rugby is not a team sport recognized by the Georgia High School Association and that it would not set the best example for students at her school who were denied to participate in the past.
Nevertheless, Jenna did not give up. She proceeded to email every athletic director in Cobb County to be able to get to the root of the problem. “I didn’t think this rule schools had was fair,” Jenna says. After receiving positive feedback and support, Jenna went to the Cobb County School Board (CCSB) in an attempt to have a policy put in place that allows all students who have athletic scholarships to be allowed participate in National Signing Day. And she did not stop there; Jenna also spoke at a public CCSB meeting about this issue.
“The board hadn’t realized this was happening at several schools. During board comments, our Superintendent, Chris Ragsdale, congratulated me and thanked me for speaking and using my voice as a student,” Jenna says. “He was impressed and came up to me immediately after the meeting to apologize for being denied participation at my school, and I then had multiple board members come to me personally and apologize for what happened and said they supported me.”
Currently, Jenna has not heard news either way but is closely watching the CCSB’s minutes after each meeting to see if there is a change that occurs.
After hearing about what happened, Life University’s head coach, Rosalind Chou, invited Jenna to sign at the university, so she could have an equal experience as her fellow students.
“Signing Day is important to me because it’s the day different types of athletes can come together and celebrate their awesome accomplishments. It’s a day to celebrate all the hard work athletes put into their sport,” Jenna says. “Athletes who received a sports scholarship had to put in a lot of time, effort, and sacrifices to get that accomplishment, and I think it should be respected and honored by their high school.”
This article originally appeared in our April issue of EAST COBBER, on page 10. Click here to view the digital edition.
