SHELBY COUNTY, Tenn. — A Memphis mother said her son has been deemed ineligible for a football program for reasons that she said have nothing to do with him.
It’s been a yearlong nightmare for Queen Cunningham. After helping her son escape a school with a crumbling football program, she was excited to see him get back on the field for his new school. But now her battle to get him playing again is just beginning.
“The city council, the mayor, someone needs to get involved. I really don’t care who gets involved. But somebody needs to be involved,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham’s son is a former football player at Freedom Prep. She said the school was woefully unprepared to even have a football team, with basic travel and other key services going unfulfilled last season.
“The kids had to carpool to Whitehaven station to play football. That was the first strike right there. They had to carpool to play in the football game. I should have called someone then, but I didn't because I didn't want to make it hard on the kids,” she said.
Cunningham said the issues weren’t just limited to the field, as the school struggled to properly staff classes or even respond to parents' concerns.
Eventually, she was able to get him transferred to the Memphis Academy of Science & Engineering (MASE) earlier this year. However, she was told on Thursday her son would be ineligible to play football there this season. According to TSSAA guidelines, he could be ineligible because there has not been a change of residence.
“They need to figure out a new way to handle these situations. Now, you’re going to put more black boys on the streets doing nothing. There’s already enough crime out on the streets,” Cunningham said.
She isn't alone, as three other students who transferred out of Freedom Prep to MASE around the same time are dealing with the same issue. Numerous other kids also transferred to different schools in the Memphis area.
“Now, you’re making me feel like you’re just singling out our kids. Why not all the other kids that went everywhere else? Can they play? I don’t know,” Cunningham said.
Cunningham did get a call from the MASE administration late Thursday. She must attend an appeal in person on Monday hours away in Murfreesboro. She’ll be there, and she wants the issue resolved.
Freedom Prep gave ABC24 the following statement:
"This past March, less than 10 of our student athletes transferred to a different school while Freedom Prep was undergoing leadership change in our athletics department. Before they transferred, our leadership team expressed concern to the students' parents that the student athletes might be deemed ineligible to play, based on TSSAA guidelines. Freedom Prep was not involved with the ultimate eligibility decision. Our leadership team will continue to evolve and enhance our athletics department for the advancement of our students and our network as a whole."