A happy ending for Pecos teen?
The story of Pecos High basketball player Carlos Cordova and assistant coach Dominick Baca is enough to warm the heart of the biggest Scrooge around. Or so we would hope. Cordova, by himself after the death of his grandfather, learned that coach Baca needed a place to live after he started working in Pecos back in 2015. So, the student offered the coach a room in the trailer that his grandfather had been renting. His mother, Socorro, gave her permission.
The two have been together ever since. The New Mexican’s James Barron wrote about their experience in a heartwarming story published on Thanksgiving Day. Heartwarming, that is, to everyone but the New Mexico Activities Association. There, officials are warning that the relationship could violate an eligibility bylaw of the group, which regulates high school sports and activities.
This is not a senseless rule, but one to ensure that coaches aren’t exercising undue influence over adolescents. The bylaw regarding “Undue Influence of a Student” states that a “participant living with coach, principal, teacher, or school officials without legal guardianship” could be rendered ineligible for 180 days. We have to believe such a rule applies to a coach, for example, who recruits a player from one district to play for a team in another district, not to a coach and student who already live in the district.
A hearing is set for Dec. 12, and in the meantime, Baca is not coaching so Carlos can still play. That way, if he loses the hearing, the team won’t have to forfeit all its games. (Some community members are worried that if he is declared in violation of the rule, games that led to the Pecos state basketball championship could be tossed.)
Officials from Pecos Independent Schools are filing a hardship waiver on the high school senior’s behalf, and we trust that NMAA will use good sense in this matter. Yes, rules are important to protect student-athletes and to ensure some schools don’t attempt to recruit away players, boarding them with a convenient coach.
But a situation where a coach and student help each other is hardly one where bureaucratic intervention is needed. At one time, Carlos had considered moving to Mexico to be closer to family. He was that alone.
The intervention of one caring adult made it possible for Carlos to finish high school in the community where he was raised. He had the singular experience of winning a high school championship with his friends and fellow Pecos Panthers. He’s almost halfway through his senior year — let’s not spoil this, NMAA.
Common sense — it’s possible.