Rockets' Smith Wants More Time
The Washington Post, Tuesday, August 12, 2003

By Josh Leventhal

One of Montgomery County’s top football players over the past two seasons has petitioned Maryland public school officials for athletic eligibility this fall, in what will be his fifth year of high school. 

Richard Montgomery’s Quentin Smith-who helped lead the Rockets to a 17-2 record the past two years-has appealed to state Superintendent Nancy S. Grasmick for permission to play football while he completed two credits needed for graduation. 

Smith’s lawyer contends in letters to Grasmick and Ned Sparks, the executive director of the Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association, that the 17-year-old has one remaining year of athletic eligibility, since he did not participate in athletics until 2000-01, when he was repeating his freshman year. Smith’s lawyer also argues that, under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the school system is required to grant the athlete an extra year of eligibility as a “reasonable accommodation” for his learning disability. 

“It’s important to me to get my grades up and get a chance to play,” said Smith, who refused to speak on the details of his petition. “There would be a lot of positives if I could play. I had recruiters [interested] last year, but I couldn’t really do anything with them [because of academics].” 

Smith’s original request on July 10 was rejected by Sparks. An appeal to Grasmick, written last Friday, has not been answered. Grasmick will be out of the office until Aug. 18, a state Department of Education spokesman said. 

MPSSAA rules permit students a total of four years of athletic participation beginning in the ninth grade. Students who begin participating in the 10th grade are entitled to three years of participation. Smith joined Richard Montgomery’s football team in his second year of high school, after failing courses in his first year. 

In the appeal to Grasmick, Smith’s attorney, Steven Van Grack, wrote: “When Quentin first began playing football as a “sophomore,’ he has freshman status as a student. Therefore, assuming we do not consider the learning disability, Quentin would still be eligible to compete this year because freshman [sic] are allowed to participate in interscholastic athletics for four years.” 

Spark’s written response to Van Grack dated July 30, said “the maximum season rule is neutrally applied with respect to Quentin’s disability, and the waiver of the maximum season requirement, as you request, is not a reasonable accommodation for his disability.” 

Smith scored 15 touchdowns and rushed for 691 yards for the 10-1 Rockets in 2001. Last season, Smith started at quarterback and totaled 614 yards and nine touchdowns in eight games. 

“It seems to fly in the face of that [eligibility] rule,” Gaithersburg Coach Kreg Kephart said. “If they allow him to do it, I’m not sure what is going to stop a coach from telling a ninth grader, “Why don’t you not play this year and come back and still play for four years?’” 

Smith drew the interest of several Divisions I colleges last fall, Richard Montgomery Coach Mike Bonavia said. 

“This will give him a chance to help his grades and have all these Division I schools know they have a chance with him,” Bonavia said. “They look at him and think he is one of the most talented guys in the Washington metropolitan area but that he can’t qualify. He has the athletic ability to go to another level.” 

“That guy is great,” Sherwood Coach Tom Crowell said of Smith. “If they get him back that will help them a lot. . . He is the best quarterback in the county.” 

Other athletes have successfully petitioned for additional years of eligibility because of learning disabilities. In 2000, Churchill’s Brian Douglas was permitted by Montgomery County to plat football during his fifth year of high school. Douglas did not play as a freshman and learned he had attention deficit disorder after being forced to repeat the ninth grade. Douglas rushed for 1,888 yards and 20 touchdowns in his final year. 

VanGrack-who represented Douglas-said that he was contacted by Bonavia regarding Smith in early June. Bonavia contends that Smith found the attorney on his own, however, and Smith said that he learned of VanGrack through a friend of his mother’s.

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