Basketball team at Orthodox Jewish Beren Academy has to forfeit in state tournament because game conflicts with Sabbath
“It’s disappointing. I’ve been here 10 years and I’ve always known where our priorities lie,” Beren coach and athletic director Chris Cole said. “We were hopeful and optimistic going in that we could be able to do both — adhere to the religious beliefs here and play basketball.”
Dallas Covenant will instead face Kerrville Our Lady of the Hills, which is the team Beren beat by a score of 69-42 last week. To this point, Beren was successful in rescheduling two of its Friday and Saturday playoff games earlier in the month so they could play earlier in the day. Teams are not allowed to play on Sundays because of traditional Christian warship, which limits opportunities to reschedule games.
“It’s not frustrating,” Beren point guard Isaac Mirwis said. “It’s a little disappointing. We worked hard this entire season and our goal was to get to the state championship and win the state championship. So, it’s disappointing that we don’t get that opportunity, but definitely not frustrated with anybody because honestly we can’t really take that out on any one person.”
The association simply reiterated the fact that Beren knew tournament games were scheduled for Fridays and Saturdays when they pursued membership in TAPPS but proceeded anyway. Cole said that the team respects and understands the decision.
Talk about an unfortunate situation. On one hand, the school knew the complications that could arise when they joined the conference. There are only so many games that can be rescheduled throughout a tournament, so this was bound to happen at some point. On the other hand, you have a group of kids who have worked their tails off all season long in hopes of capturing a state title. To be told you’ve been bounced from the tournament strictly because of a scheduling conflict must be devastating. It’s a shame they couldn’t work something out.