Is it true the Lacrosse player from Lightridge HS was Bullied or not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why does Indy being state runner up matter? that was last year and a team heavy with Seniors who are now gone. She would have to try out still, make the team, and even need to make an impact on that team...... I could see all the uproar if this was a USA All American, or a top 100 player in the country... Again this isn't the IAAM or WCAC..... it would harm no one, not even the prior school to at least allow the kid to try out, or even play, it all seems very silly...

The rules would then need to change for all students in all sports. We would need to allow any basketball football soccer ect to switch schools at any time for any reason. I am guessing the judge determined that sports was the reason for the change and she should not be allowed to do this when other students cannot. She wanted to play for her club coach and the parents wanted this to. The parents could have moved to be in the correct school district. Instead the adults messed up and I feel bad for the student but the blame is not Loudoun but the parents and the club coach who encouraged this.

I would agree that the first part of your statement would be bad/unfair. But in this case the district/county approved her to transfer schools on the basis of bullying or mental health...... I would assume since they said sure you can transfer to the new school for academics, peers, and new social setting, that allowing the full experience of a high school setting shouldn't be unallowable as well.. Kinda silly tbh. YOu can go to a new school, do new things, but noooooooo athletics, seems like the district should not have approved the school transfer in the first place.

It came out in court that they were explicitly warned she would likely be ineligible to play sports if she took the transfer. They took it anyway and sought a waiver. When the waiver was denied because it looked like an athletics-motivated transfer to LCPS, they sued and started a PR pressure campaign. But, they absolutely knew if they took the transfer she'd be ineligible.

LCPS is the laughing stock of the NOVA area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why does Indy being state runner up matter? that was last year and a team heavy with Seniors who are now gone. She would have to try out still, make the team, and even need to make an impact on that team...... I could see all the uproar if this was a USA All American, or a top 100 player in the country... Again this isn't the IAAM or WCAC..... it would harm no one, not even the prior school to at least allow the kid to try out, or even play, it all seems very silly...

The rules would then need to change for all students in all sports. We would need to allow any basketball football soccer ect to switch schools at any time for any reason. I am guessing the judge determined that sports was the reason for the change and she should not be allowed to do this when other students cannot. She wanted to play for her club coach and the parents wanted this to. The parents could have moved to be in the correct school district. Instead the adults messed up and I feel bad for the student but the blame is not Loudoun but the parents and the club coach who encouraged this.

I would agree that the first part of your statement would be bad/unfair. But in this case the district/county approved her to transfer schools on the basis of bullying or mental health...... I would assume since they said sure you can transfer to the new school for academics, peers, and new social setting, that allowing the full experience of a high school setting shouldn't be unallowable as well.. Kinda silly tbh. YOu can go to a new school, do new things, but noooooooo athletics, seems like the district should not have approved the school transfer in the first place.

It came out in court that they were explicitly warned she would likely be ineligible to play sports if she took the transfer. They took it anyway and sought a waiver. When the waiver was denied because it looked like an athletics-motivated transfer to LCPS, they sued and started a PR pressure campaign. But, they absolutely knew if they took the transfer she'd be ineligible.

LCPS is the laughing stock of the NOVA area.

Not really. And they handled this instance 100% correctly and by the book in according with state VHSL policy.

To the extent LCPS has suffered bad reputation it's unrelated to this case. If anything, the family trying to cynically exploit that animosity about LCPS just as they've tried to tug at heart strings about mental illness is cynical and off-putting. Especially when the details they omitted in their sob story to the press started coming out.

BTW folks, this is a good example of why "go to the media" doesn't always work. Sure, you'll get bad reporters like Nick Minock at WJLA to carry your water (although that clown was in New Zealand this week while this all went down, according to his Facebook account). But ultimately, if you are selective with the truth, it will come back to bite you in the ass.

I wonder how much they wasted on that lawyer, who will likely now get sued herself for slander?

[Anonymous]

The family is still stamping its feet and isn't giving up legally:

https://wjla.com/news/local/loudoun-county-school-board-lcps-bullying-lacrosse-lily-sigler-mental-health-sports-student-athlete-sports-community-high-school-athletics

I will say WJLA's coverage of this has been abysmal. Stick to Loudoun Now or Loudoun Times.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:why does Indy being state runner up matter? that was last year and a team heavy with Seniors who are now gone. She would have to try out still, make the team, and even need to make an impact on that team...... I could see all the uproar if this was a USA All American, or a top 100 player in the country... Again this isn't the IAAM or WCAC..... it would harm no one, not even the prior school to at least allow the kid to try out, or even play, it all seems very silly...

Kind of mixed on this one. On one side those who attend Loudoun public schools know the transfer rule and requirement to sit out sports for a year. I believe this also includes a student needing to sit out for a year even when moving into a new school zone. So, before pursuing this option one better have all their ducks in a row if they want to play sports following a transfer. This would not be the first time a transfer student was denied a waiver to play sports at another Loudoun school.

On the other side, and highlighted above, this seems to be a player who will have minimal impact at Indy. She’s committed to Kenyon College, not necessarily a lacrosse hotbed for top talent. Don’t buy into the college commit hype, Kenyon would lose to many college club teams. So, really no big advantage gained by the student or Indy by her playing lacrosse at her new school.

What is at issue is this student appears to have intentionally bypassed two closer high schools to play for her club coach. Which falls in line with why Loudoun has their transfer policy in place. We all want student safety first, but in this case the student had other reasonable options to remedy the problem she allegedly experienced at LR by attending a closer high school. Everyone needs to play within the rules, which the Indy coach should have known well and this player's parents should have educated themselves on. Hoping something will work out is never a great strategy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why does Indy being state runner up matter? that was last year and a team heavy with Seniors who are now gone. She would have to try out still, make the team, and even need to make an impact on that team...... I could see all the uproar if this was a USA All American, or a top 100 player in the country... Again this isn't the IAAM or WCAC..... it would harm no one, not even the prior school to at least allow the kid to try out, or even play, it all seems very silly...

Kind of mixed on this one. On one side those who attend Loudoun public schools know the transfer rule and requirement to sit out sports for a year. I believe this also includes a student needing to sit out for a year even when moving into a new school zone. So, before pursuing this option one better have all their ducks in a row if they want to play sports following a transfer. This would not be the first time a transfer student was denied a waiver to play sports at another Loudoun school.

On the other side, and highlighted above, this seems to be a player who will have minimal impact at Indy. She’s committed to Kenyon College, not necessarily a lacrosse hotbed for top talent. Don’t buy into the college commit hype, Kenyon would lose to many college club teams. So, really no big advantage gained by the student or Indy by her playing lacrosse at her new school.

What is at issue is this student appears to have intentionally bypassed two closer high schools to play for her club coach. Which falls in line with why Loudoun has their transfer policy in place. We all want student safety first, but in this case the student had other reasonable options to remedy the problem she allegedly experienced at LR by attending a closer high school. Everyone needs to play within the rules, which the Indy coach should have known well and this player's parents should have educated themselves on. Hoping something will work out is never a great strategy.

Kenyon was 18-2 and finished third in the NCAA tournament last year. I realize it's Division 3, but I think you're downplaying unfairly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:why does Indy being state runner up matter? that was last year and a team heavy with Seniors who are now gone. She would have to try out still, make the team, and even need to make an impact on that team...... I could see all the uproar if this was a USA All American, or a top 100 player in the country... Again this isn't the IAAM or WCAC..... it would harm no one, not even the prior school to at least allow the kid to try out, or even play, it all seems very silly...

The rules would then need to change for all students in all sports. We would need to allow any basketball football soccer ect to switch schools at any time for any reason. I am guessing the judge determined that sports was the reason for the change and she should not be allowed to do this when other students cannot. She wanted to play for her club coach and the parents wanted this to. The parents could have moved to be in the correct school district. Instead the adults messed up and I feel bad for the student but the blame is not Loudoun but the parents and the club coach who encouraged this.

What bothers me about it is they're now pivoting to proclaiming they are raising bigger policy concerns and trying to make this about mental illness. But instead of getting a state delegate to work on legislation for broader policy change, they got him to join their pressure campaign and write to the school board demanding she be allowed to play.

Their story has changed a lot throughout this. Originally they said her transfer wasn't motivated by playing lacrosse there. But then it became all playing lacrosse is important to her mental health (even though she has other avenues to play lacrosse). They never acknowledged her travel team coach was an assistant coach at Independence until this last week. And then, on the courthouse steps, their lawyer accused her alleged bully by name without evidence, ironically causing great mental stress to another child.

I'm starting to think this "bullying" is really a case of bad beef between a couple of families and now it's spilled over into the public domain. The parents are relentless, stalking the comment sections of local newspapers (and likely here), pushing against anything that contradicts their narrative.

At least it's over now. I do wish the girl success in college. I don't think her parents did her any favors here.

I may be wrong, but committed athletes who most likely produce for the team usually aren't the ones getting bullied. It would be a shame if she's using this to game the system.

O'Doyle rules.

[Anonymous]

Man, the lawyers setting up shop near Indy must be growing and growing. Those coaches should be eligible for their own reserved parking spot at the courthouse by now.

[Anonymous]

Unpopular opinion: D3 is not "Ringer" status... not to take away from her achievements... but more to highlight the Impact may not be as great as it looks..

"Just over 12 percent of high school lacrosse players go on to play women’s college lacrosse. Over five percent of these student-athletes play for NCAA Division 3 programs, while only three percent are offered a roster spot at one of the 115 Division 1 programs."

that being said, I think the playing for club coach thing is a meh point.... ask the IAAM how many of their girls play for their club coaches/top club coaches in the country. Different level or lacrosse, so maybe unfair to compare. Also, if you are a player on a club team the goal should always be to play at the highest level possible, why else would you commit the team and money?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School Board and Court denied her being able to play at Independence. She says she was bullied at Lightridge, but there's no real known evidence.

If she was bullied why didn't she choose to go to a school much closer to where she lives (ie John Champe, Freedom, etc.)? Instead chose the school that made it to the state finals in lacrosse last year.

My DD is friends with several girls on the Lightridge lacrosse team and they are pretty adamant that this is purely a desire to move to a better team team.

Not sure you’re familiar with the area but we previously lived in that area and Champe and Independence (there are cut throughs across rt. 50 to it) would be close to equally distant depending where she lived in the Lightridge zone, and Freedom farther. Not to mention the article said she had friends at Independence so a built in support system would be important if she was having social struggles affecting her mental health at Lightridge. I think we can all agree on that as parents. And since the girls who started the Lightridge team are now seniors I’d imagine they’d be similar in strength to Independence by this point. As far as what the girls are saying, if you’re a parent of teenagers you know that of course they all have opinions and not all of the facts unless they were directly involved. Regardless it’s ridiculous and a slippery slope to question the mental health of a teenage girl who wants to switch schools for her senior year-that’s not the norm. If she wanted a guarantee to win some sort of championship she probably would have switched to PVI. But it’s like a victim of assault—what teenage girl would really subject herself to this if she wasn’t struggling at her school. I also think it’s horrible a kid’s name was used from Lightridge and that the team as a whole has now been insinuated as bullies. Not sure why the school board dug their heels in sadly making this worse for all of the girls. They’ve also now set a precedent that if you’re struggling with mental health issues or bullying and you need to transfer schools that you can’t participate in sports and extracurriculars that are documented to help with mental health. Sad all around.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Unpopular opinion: D3 is not "Ringer" status... not to take away from her achievements... but more to highlight the Impact may not be as great as it looks..

"Just over 12 percent of high school lacrosse players go on to play women’s college lacrosse. Over five percent of these student-athletes play for NCAA Division 3 programs, while only three percent are offered a roster spot at one of the 115 Division 1 programs."

that being said, I think the playing for club coach thing is a meh point.... ask the IAAM how many of their girls play for their club coaches/top club coaches in the country. Different level or lacrosse, so maybe unfair to compare. Also, if you are a player on a club team the goal should always be to play at the highest level possible, why else would you commit the team and money?

IMO, being better than 88% of other lacrosse players (i.e. good enough to play in college at any level) is "ringer" territory. So the statistic you just floated doesn't support your contention that this isn't an impact player. And really it's 92% since I infer the others in that 12% who aren't playing D3 or D1 are playing juco.

Again, this isn't just some walk-on. No one disputes that club and HS teams are different. No one really gets recruited from HS. But, again, if this was a case of her wanting to play for a "better" team than Lightridge, one that was states runners up last year and was coached by her club coach, then, yes, it looks an awful lot like an attempt to game the system and using buzzwords like mental health in a pressure PR campaign to try to force the issue. A judge shot it down, anyway. Family may throw good money after bad on lawyers, but this is over, barring some dramatic change in the next couple of days from the school board (which I don't think will happen, nor should it).

[Anonymous]

It’s a false rebuke of wp. If she were a poc, would never have been challenged.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The family is still stamping its feet and isn't giving up legally:

https://wjla.com/news/local/loudoun-county-school-board-lcps-bullying-lacrosse-lily-sigler-mental-health-sports-student-athlete-sports-community-high-school-athletics

I will say WJLA's coverage of this has been abysmal. Stick to Loudoun Now or Loudoun Times.

WJLA has an anti-LCPS agenda that I assume stems from their ownership (Sinclair).
Their reporting on this has been incredibly one-sided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a false rebuke of wp. If she were a poc, would never have been challenged.

That's a load of horseshit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s a false rebuke of wp. If she were a poc, would never have been challenged.

I don't want to hijack this already provocative discussion into a debate about race favoritism, but by gosh that sure is true. If the student who claiming bullying was a POC, whether true or false, and whether racism was or was not part of the allegations, the result would have been 100% different. anybody who disagrees with that is either lying or has their eyes closed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School Board and Court denied her being able to play at Independence. She says she was bullied at Lightridge, but there's no real known evidence.

If she was bullied why didn't she choose to go to a school much closer to where she lives (ie John Champe, Freedom, etc.)? Instead chose the school that made it to the state finals in lacrosse last year.

My DD is friends with several girls on the Lightridge lacrosse team and they are pretty adamant that this is purely a desire to move to a better team team.

Not sure you’re familiar with the area but we previously lived in that area and Champe and Independence (there are cut throughs across rt. 50 to it) would be close to equally distant depending where she lived in the Lightridge zone, and Freedom farther. Not to mention the article said she had friends at Independence so a built in support system would be important if she was having social struggles affecting her mental health at Lightridge. I think we can all agree on that as parents. And since the girls who started the Lightridge team are now seniors I’d imagine they’d be similar in strength to Independence by this point. As far as what the girls are saying, if you’re a parent of teenagers you know that of course they all have opinions and not all of the facts unless they were directly involved. Regardless it’s ridiculous and a slippery slope to question the mental health of a teenage girl who wants to switch schools for her senior year-that’s not the norm. If she wanted a guarantee to win some sort of championship she probably would have switched to PVI. But it’s like a victim of assault—what teenage girl would really subject herself to this if she wasn’t struggling at her school. I also think it’s horrible a kid’s name was used from Lightridge and that the team as a whole has now been insinuated as bullies. Not sure why the school board dug their heels in sadly making this worse for all of the girls. They’ve also now set a precedent that if you’re struggling with mental health issues or bullying and you need to transfer schools that you can’t participate in sports and extracurriculars that are documented to help with mental health. Sad all around.

Indy was ranked 16th by MaxPreps, Lightridge in the 30s.

They've not set any sort of precedence, Lauren. That dog isn't going to hunt. I see you making that argument in other forums and the like, but that's not a factual interpretation of what's happening here. And how dare you complain about mental illness and allow your lawyer to make unsubstantiated accusations on the courthouse steps about another child? By name?