Growing Cheers for the Home-Schooled Team, 16 March 2008, New York Times, New York, New York
Only a decade ago, home-school athletics was considered little more than organized recess for children without traditional classrooms. Now, home-school players are tracked by scouts, and dozens of them have accepted scholarships to colleges as small as Blue Mountain in Mississippi and as well known as Iowa State.
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An estimated two million children are schooled at home, and only 18 states have laws that grant them access to athletic teams at public schools. So it was perhaps inevitable that home-school programs and tournaments developed.
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Many of the best teams here were founded by some of the home-school athletic movement’s pioneers. In 1992, Tom Sanders bought some reversible jerseys and founded the Homeschool Christian Youth Association Warriors in Houston so his 14-year-old son could play organized basketball with his friends. He had to plead with small Christian schools, even reform schools, to schedule 14 games that season.
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She has, indeed, gotten looks from college recruiters, and more than 100 Division I teams have contacted her. Still, Spani says she is in no hurry to decide between Connecticut or Tennessee. She may even join her sister Shalin at Kansas State, their parents’ alma mater.
posted by Valerie