Burke High School Girls' Basketball Team Gets Foul For Wearing Pink 'Make A Wish' Uniforms

When the Burke High School girls' basketball team came out in pink uniforms Monday night, they hoped to score big for the Make-a-Wish Foundation. What they got instead was a foul and two points for their opponents, Omaha.com reports.

The Burke "Bulldogs" sported pink tops and bottoms on Monday to be auctioned off to benefit Make-A-Wish, a charity that grants wishes for kids with life threatening diseases. After the second quarter though, the visiting team's athletic director pointed out that Burke had broken a uniform rule -- the Nebraska School Activities Association requires the home team to wear white.

The Bulldogs were slapped with a foul and the opposing team, the Columbus Discoverers, banked two points and eventually won the game.

"Coach Law has a big heart," Burke head coach Luke Lueders told the news outlet of the assistant coach's charitable initiative. "He was trying to do a nice thing, and then this happened."

The Omaha teens, who raised $2,600 from the single charity event, aren't the only high schoolers getting penalized for trying to do a good deed while bending dress code rules.

Cancer survivor J.T. Gaskins, 17, was suspended from his Michigan high school last month for wearing his hair too long, according to the Detroit News. The teen had been growing out his mane to donate to Locks of Love, a nonprofit that provides hairpieces to low-income children with long-term medical hair loss.

"I fought cancer my entire life. I'm going to keep fighting this," Gaskin told the Detroit News. "I'm not going to not give back just because my school says no."

Did this punishment fit the crime? Let us know in the poll below:

Quick Poll

Should the team have gotten fouled?

No, they were fundraising for charity!

Yeah, rules are rules!

VOTE

Share your vote on Facebook so your friends can take this poll

Related on HuffPost:

Comments

[wlkcrk]

04:41 PM on 02/10/2012

Rules are made to be broken. Aren't they???

[Netti]

03:54 PM on 02/09/2012

And they call these folks educators? Talk about being stuck on stupid?

[madcityy]

02:42 PM on 02/09/2012

THIS IS SO NEB STUPID.....................AND THE OTHER SCHOOL CRYING ABOUT IT???????????????

THAT AD S/B FIRED AND PUT IN JAILLLLL............GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

[ttsgw]

02:31 PM on 02/09/2012

I guess boys dressed in light blue would be punished as well.

[DevonTexas]

01:52 PM on 02/09/2012

If the other team needed those two points to win, then it was worth it to give them the points and wear the uniforms.

[FiredUpRTG]

12:47 PM on 02/09/2012

You know the rules and regs; tell the administration first.

[imonlyhereforthelaughs]

12:05 PM on 02/09/2012

It isn't whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. And those girls played a heck of a game imho. Good for them. They took the loss on the court, but won big for the Make a Wish Foundation.

[Wag64]

11:43 AM on 02/09/2012

If you people would read the original article - you will find that the A.D. from the other team didn't ask for the foul: "I asked one of our assistants whether Burke had said anything ahead of time about wearing pink uniforms,'' Krogstrand said. "It was my suggestion to coach Licari to bring it to the attention of the officials."

The intent wasn't to be malicious, Krogstrand said. "It was a situation where we just asked the officials, and they called the foul.''
Secondly the TEAM LOST BY 15 POINTS.

The officials have to call the foul they are to be fair - but in the long run it didn't matter - the team raised a lot of money for charity and they should be happy about it.

[The Tool Man]

07:45 PM on 02/09/2012

The A.D. knew once it was brought up that they would have to call a technical foul. They were just upset they were not winning at that moment. That shows no sportsmanship from the A.D. he should donate some money if as he said is was not to be malicious. As for the coach Licari he should have told the A.D. let it ride it is for charity. But I can quess that that coach is all about winning at all costs, great sportsmanship.

[fresh05]

10:28 PM on 02/12/2012

"If you people" hahahahaha aaaaaaaaaaaaaaanyways.... it's a horrible act by an adult, defintely not a role model for their players

[SciFiChickie]

10:51 AM on 02/09/2012

I don't have an issue with them penalizing the team they did break the uniform rules.. the Coach should have made sure the oposing team's coach would agree so they would not get the penalty...

But to suspened a kid for how long his hair is, that is beyond rediculous...
Don't these people realize that in every single portrait of Jesus, he had long hair?
Why is it schools these days feel it is nesssary to block free expression by limiting hairstyles via the dress code?

[Wag64]

11:46 AM on 02/09/2012

Its a private school they have a rule about hair. THe kid knew it and was warned. The student is free to choose a different school

Once you make an exception, you have to start hearing everyone's reason for breaking the rules and then you have to decide whose reason is more compelling than the others?

[SciFiChickie]

12:01 PM on 02/09/2012

Unlike you I read his story...
It says he attended Madison Academy in Flint Michigan. Madison Academy is tuition-free public school academy that opened its doors to the Flint community in the fall of 2004.

[GHO]

10:46 AM on 02/09/2012

'Said it before, will say it again - kids sports are the greatest thing in the world until the so-called "adults" get involved. The Columbus AD should be ashamed of himself.

Moreover, what was he even doing there? Omaha is more than an hours drive from Columbus. Does the AD really go to every girls bball game, even 90 minutes away? Or did he know ahead of time about the uniform situation, and he went specifically to raise a stink about it?

I do realize the refs, once it was brought to their attention, could not ignore the violation, but if I had been reffing the game, I know my first words to the AD would have been, "You're kidding, right?"

[ByThePowerOfGrayskull]

10:33 AM on 02/09/2012

Why didn't the Bulldogs inform the Discoverers (that's the best they could do for a mascot?) and/or the league of the uniform change? One phone call would have done the trick.

[Americanwoman55]

10:24 AM on 02/09/2012

The high school team the won by pointing out a uniform issue won by a technicality not by the teams talent.

Sounds like this teams coach has no faith in his or her team. How sad.

Good for doing a great charity event. TIME TO CHANGE THE RULES IN THIS TOWN OR STATE SO CHARITY CAN HAVE RAISED MONEY. WHY PLAY SPORTS OTHERWISE.

[Wag64]

11:48 AM on 02/09/2012

They won by 15 points the two free throws did not make the difference.
And they didn't demand the foul , they asked the refs about it and the refs called the foul.

[Americanwoman55]

02:01 PM on 02/09/2012

The article reads like they won by two points thank you for the score delta. However still does not change my opinion. The pointi s charity work is important and chrity begins at home . Obviously the coach needs to work on these issues within hmiself.

[NatTurner1]

10:15 AM on 02/09/2012

I dont know if its fair or foul, but the Michigan Men's basketball team was once penalized for wearing black socks! Rules are rules!

[fresh05]

10:32 PM on 02/12/2012

and they still ran through those other teams. wearing white socks..

[KF2]

10:13 AM on 02/09/2012

Homework for Education establishment:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Brick_in_the_Wall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZbM_MIz4RM&feature=related

[ljb860ljb]

09:48 AM on 02/09/2012

Schools can be real douches when it comes to rules. A black/white strictly enforced rule will ALWAYS break something, rules enforced with a little common sense are those usually followed.