Weigel v. WIAA

The Weigel family’s oldest daughter began her high school career at a small Christian school in Baraboo which did not offer athletic programming. Shortly after, the Weigel’s youngest child was diagnosed with a rare, but serious, blood condition requiring significant medical care. The Weigel family made tremendous sacrifices during this time. Their daughter spent nine weeks in the hospital and her mother Emily quit her full-time job in order to be able to provide their youngest daughter with the care needed for her continued recovery. However, with significant medical care needs and the stark loss of Emily’s employment income, the Weigel family made the decision to transfer their other daughter from private school into their residential school district–where the family has lived for generations. This change, although difficult, also meant that their daughter could participate in high school sports for the first time. Or so she thought. Their daughter has a strong passion for softball and has played it for years in a recreational league but has never even had the opportunity to participate in a high school athletics program. Upon transferring to Baraboo High School, she was told she was ineligible to play for a full year because of the WIAA’s transfer rules. The school worked with her to file a waiver request of those rules, and the WIAA rejected her waiver and denied her appeal. The school accepted that decision as final.