Case Name: OKLAHOMA SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION, and Leo Higbie, Executive Secretary, Appellants, v. Reginald Calvin MIDGET, an infant by Mrs. Donna Midget, his mother and next friend, et al., Appellees
Court: Oklahoma Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Oklahoma
Decision Date: 1972-11-30
Citations: 505 P.2d 175
Docket Number: No. 46177
Parties: OKLAHOMA SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION, and Leo Higbie, Executive Secretary, Appellants, v. Reginald Calvin MIDGET, an infant by Mrs. Donna Midget, his mother and next friend, et al., Appellees.
Judges: DAVISON, V. C. J., and WILLIAMS, IRWIN, LAVENDER, BARNES and SIMMS, JJ., concur.
Reporter: Pacific Reporter 2d
Volume: 505
Pages: 175–179

Head Matter:
OKLAHOMA SECONDARY SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ASSOCIATION, and Leo Higbie, Executive Secretary, Appellants, v. Reginald Calvin MIDGET, an infant by Mrs. Donna Midget, his mother and next friend, et al., Appellees.
No. 46177.
Supreme Court of Oklahoma.
Nov. 30, 1972.
Rehearing Denied Dec. 1, 1972.
Claude Monnet, K. Nicholas Wilson, Oklahoma City, for appellants.
James O. Goodwin, Tulsa, for appellees, Reginald Calvin Midget, Theodore Roosevelt Rice, Ronald Gilliam and Julius Pe-gues.
David L. Fist, Tulsa, for appellees, Board of Education, Independent School Dist. No. One, Tulsa, Okl., H. J. Green and James L. Smith.
A. Camp Bonds, Muskogee, for appel-lees, Board of Education, Independent School Dist. No. Twenty, Muskogee, Okl., Glenn N. Smith and Frank Tillery.

Opinion:
BY THE JUSTICES:
Due to the necessity for an early decision in this case, so that the State Four A Football Semi-Final Playoff game can be played without further delay, the Court scheduled immediate oral arguments. After a lengthy hearing of the parties in open court, the Court finds that a decision should be entered instanter.
Kenneth Williams, one of the football players used by the Booker T. Washington High School of Tulsa, during the current football season, was ineligible to play football for Booker T. Washington High School under the rules adopted by the Principals of the Tulsa Independent School District. Tulsa Washington is in the Tulsa Independent School District and is a member of the Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association.
It is uncontroverted that the Principals of the Tulsa School District passed the following rule concerning eligibility: "Students may transfer from a school where his race is in the majority to a school where his race is in the minority and be eligible for athletics. A student who transfers from his home school to another school under the majority to minority ("M to M") regulation is eligible to participate in athletics in only the school to which he has been transferred. Should he return to his home school or transfer to another school, he must attend that school for two semesters to establish eligibility." (Emphasis added.)
Tulsa Washington, a school within the Tulsa School District, had apparently won all four games in its district, and was therefore entitled to play against Tulsa Hale in the State Four A Football SemiFinals. It was then brought to the attention of the Tulsa Washington Principal, who relayed the information to the Association, that an ineligible player had been used. It is uncontroverted that Kenneth Williams played football at Tulsa Washington in the fall of 1971, then transferred to Tulsa McClain under the "M to M" policy in the spring of 1972, where he participated in tennis and track, and then returned to Tulsa Washington, where he again participated in football in the fall of 1972.
The Rules of Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association (Rule 14, § 8) provide that any game in which an ineligible player is used shall be forfeited. If an ineligible player had not been used by Tulsa Washington, it would have been entitled to participate in the District Four A Semi-Final Playoffs. Based upon a protest and finding that an ineligible player had been used by Tulsa Washington, the Association, by its Executive Secretary, Leo Higbie, declared that Tulsa Washington would not be entitled to participate in the District Four A Semi-Final Playoffs. Thereafter, at a special meeting of the Board of Directors of the Association, after a review of the case, it was the Board's decision that "since it was clearly established during the hearing that Kenneth Williams did indeed violate the special transfer regulation adopted by the Principals of the Tulsa Independent District, that Kenneth should be declared ineligible and all games in which he participated shall be and are hereby declared forfeited."
On November 24, 1972, a proceeding was commenced in the District Court of Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Case No. C-72-3139, against certain named defendants seeking an order restraining the defendants and each of them from interfering in any manner with the scheduled football contest between Tulsa Hale and Tulsa Washington. Neither Kenneth Williams, the ineligible player, nor Tulsa Washington were parties in that action and are not parties to this appeal. Plaintiffs, in that proceeding, also sought a permanent injunction.
On November 24, 1972, the District Court of Tulsa County ordered that plaintiffs' application for temporary and permanent injunction be set for hearing on November 25, 1972. On hearing, the District Court entered its order permanently enjoining the defendants in Case No. C-72-3139, supra, from interfering in any manner with the football contest between Tulsa Hale and Tulsa Washington. The Oklahoma Secondary School Activities Association and Leo Higbie, the Executive Secretary of the Association, and others, were defendants in that action.
In this proceeding, Appellants seek an order of this Court vacating the permanent injunction ordered by the District Court of Tulsa County on November 25, 1972.
Where, as here, an action or decision of a voluntary association forfeiting football games and declaring different winners among its membership is questioned, the courts do not interfere, except to ascertain whether or not the proceeding was pursuant to the rules and laws of the association, whether or not the proceeding was in good faith, and whether or not there was anything in the proceedings in violation of the law of the land. See Robinson v. Illinois High School Association, 45 Ill.App.2d 277, 195 N.E.2d 38, cert. den. 379 U.S. 960, 85 S.Ct. 647, 13 L.Ed.2d 555, reh. den. 380 U.S. 946, 85 S.Ct. 1022, 13 L.Ed. 2d 966, and the authorities cited therein; 6 Am.Jur.2d, Associations and Clubs, § 37.
Appellees, plaintiffs in the trial court, contend that the forfeiture proceeding was not pursuant to the rules and that the provision relied upon for forfeiture was in violation of the laws of the land. It is admitted by the appellants, defendants below, that they did not have a meeting of the Board, as required by their constitution, before its Executive Secretary, Leo Higbie, announced the forfeitures. However, it was admitted by the Appellees that the Principal of Tulsa Washington High School personally notified the Executive Secretary of the Association that Tulsa Washington had played an ineligible player in its football games. That said player was ineligible under the rules enacted by the Principals of the High Schools of Tulsa Independent School District Number One. On the strength of that information, by authority of Rule 14, § 8, supra, the said Secretary declared all of the games which Tulsa Washington played forfeited. When a question was raised about the lack of Board action, the Appellants' Board of Directors met and formally declared the forfeiture as outlined above. We do not believe that this procedure violated any of the Appellees' rights, particularly in view of the fact that the Principal of Tulsa Washington High School gave the initial information about the rule violation to Appellant's Executive Secretary. As previously stated, neither the ineligible player, Kenneth Williams, nor Tulsa Washington sought relief in the trial court and they are not parties to this appeal.
Appellees further contend that the spirit of the integration order of the Federal District Court was violated by the provision for a penalty if the majority to minority transferring student later decided to return to his home school. The order of the Federal District Court provided that said majority to minority transferring student shall have the opportunity to participate in all activities in the new school, including eligibility for competitive athletics. We are not here considering his athletic participation in the new school, but concerned with his eligibility on return to his home school. The Federal Court order did not refer to this contingency in any way. This clearly evidences the fact that the Federal Court did not intend to further extend athletic el-' igibility in the event of other transfers. Thus, not interfering unnecessarily with the Association's policy of maintaining stability among its student athletes. It is obvious that the Principals of the Tulsa High Schools who enacted the said rule felt that the rule was necessary in order to maintain the integrity of their athletic program. The good faith of the Principals in enacting this rule is not questioned.
We find that the Appellees (plaintiffs below) have not shown themselves to be entitled to an injunction and that their prayer for relief should have been denied by the trial court. We therefore vacate the order granting the permanent injunction.
DAVISON, V. C. J., and WILLIAMS, IRWIN, LAVENDER, BARNES and SIMMS, JJ., concur.