Alabama gov. demands answers after high school basketball team forced to forfeit game on sabbath

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has demanded answers from the Alabama High School Athletic Association after the boys’ basketball team of Oakwood Adventist Academy, one of the longest continuously operating black private schools in America, was forced to forfeit a semifinal game in the state tournament that impinged on their observance of sabbath.

In a letter to AHSAA Executive Director Alvin Briggs on Tuesday, the Republican governor stated that she is “most disturbed” by “Oakwood’s alleged treatment at the AHSAA’s basketball tournament.”

She said that Oakwood being forced to forfeit its game last Saturday in Class 1 A Northeast Regional semifinals because of the agency’s unwillingness to swap timeslots with other schools “raises some very pressing questions.”

Seventh-day Adventists recognize the sabbath from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. However, Oakwood was scheduled to play the semifinal game at 4:30 p.m. last Saturday at Jackson State University. Although both teams set to play in the 7:30 p.m. timeslot had reportedly agreed to swap timeslots so Oakwood could play after sundown, the state agency allegedly denied the request. …  (Excerpt from the https://www.christianpost.com/news/basketball-team-forced-to-forfeit-playoff-game-on-sabbath.htmlChristian Post)