Apr 17, 2021 3 min read

A California Area High School student barred from participating in the basketball and football playoffs this year because he recently transferred from Brownsville is suing the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association in order to receive a waiver.

Hunter Assad and his older sister, Taylor Assad, who is also his legal guardian, filed the lawsuit Thursday afternoon in Washington County Court claiming the 11th-grader is “suffering from and will continue to suffer from an aggravation to his panic episodes, anxiety and depression” exasperated by the PIAA’s decision not to allow him to participate in the football postseason this fall.

Hunter left his home in Luzerne Township to live with his sister at her California apartment in November because of marital issues between his parents. His sister was granted legal custody of him that same month. By that time, Hunter had already played four football games for Brownsville before leaving that school, according to the lawsuit.

Hunter, who is now 18, played for California’s basketball team in the regular season, but was not permitted to play in its playoff games. Meanwhile, he will be excluded from the football team’s postseason games, if the team makes it at the end of the 2021 season. The lawsuit states that missing this year’s basketball playoffs cannot be rectified since they are already over, but they are asking for a waiver so Hunter can participate in the fall football playoffs.

“The damage done to (Hunter) by missing the basketball playoffs cannot be recovered,” the lawsuit states. “Further damage can be avoided by allowing participation in postseason football for the 2021 season.”

The lawsuit states that the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League determined that Hunter did not transfer for “athletic intent” that would not permit him to participate. Instead, the lawsuit states his transfer was “mandatory” because of family issues.

His Uniontown-based attorney, James Davis, said a newly passed rule by the PIAA that allows a student to play in the regular season but not the playoffs should be changed because it is detrimental to students who transfer for family or educational reasons.

“I think they have this new rule, and I really have a problem with the rule. You give them something in one and hand and take it away in the other,” Davis said. “I think that doesn’t make a lot of sense.”

Davis cites in the lawsuit that the PIAA granted waivers to two other boys “for less compelling reasons” than the family situation involving Hunter. Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas determined in a different case that the PIAA incorrectly denied another boy from participating in his team’s playoffs.

While it was too late to rectify the issue for the basketball playoffs, Davis is hopeful they have enough time for the courts to intervene and allow Hunter to participate in the football playoffs in the fall.

Davis noted that in addition to Hunter being a multi-sport athlete that also includes baseball, he is an honor roll student at California.

“He’s a solid kid. He’s a good student, a committed student, committed to sports,” Davis said. “He’s an all-around good kid. It’s a shame this happened to him.”

The lawsuit also names PIAA Director Robert Lombardi. Contacted Friday afternoon, Lombardi said he had not yet received the lawsuit so he could not comment on the case.