mistanice
02-12-2006, 01:26 PM
Bouncing back: Moye waiting for return to varsity athletics after fleeing Hurricane Rita in September
By GARY WILLMON
Sunday, February 12, 2006
DIBOLL — Talk about a roller coaster ride.
As a sophomore in 2004-05, Gilbert Moye quarterbacked his high school football team to the state championship game. It was an awesome high.
As a junior in 2005-06, Moye finds himself on what amounts to a one-year sabbatical. To most 11th-graders who are exceptional athletes, having already caught the eyes of college scouts, it would be the lowest low.
But Moye has purposed not to let a year of frustrations get him down. He has committed himself to taking a bad situation and finding the good in it, so that when all is said and done, he will emerge stronger than before.
Just as a passenger on a roller coaster, Moye can't wait for his senior year as a high school athlete in what he hopes will be the pinnacle. The peak. The highest point. The crowning moment.
With the exception of four weeks at the very beginning of next school year, Moye knows no one but God Himself will be able to take it away from him.
|———|
Just six short months ago, Moye was about to embark on his junior year at Jasper High School.
"I was so excited to return to the team that made a state championship game appearance the year before," Moye said.
As preseason progressed, Moye was moved from quarterback to wide receiver but was still a starter for the Jasper ballclub — and it was a change he embraced.
"I felt this was a good opportunity to gain experience in another position, which would provide me with more collegiate football scholarship offers," Moye said.
Later, Moye was moved to running back, yet another high-profile position he relished. "I believed that these changes were made in the best interest of the team as well as for myself," Moye said.
"As I was placed in different positions, I continued to improve and excel with the hopes of helping my team achieve the state championship title that eluded us the year before."
Then came Sept. 23, 2005. It's a day Moye said he will never forget. "That's the day my life changed forever," he said.
With Hurricane Rita fast approaching, Moye's grandmother — with whom he lived — decided it would be best that the entire family evacuate from their home and seek shelter elsewhere.
"With very little preparation or resources, we sought shelter in Lufkin with our nearest relative — my aunt, Merdith Shaw," Moye said. "She opened her home to myself, my grandmother and 21 other relatives. Imagine 24 human beings living inside a one-bedroom apartment!"
But Moye, ever the optimist, said having a roof over his head and a place to lie down at night was great with him, since he knew about others who had less than that. "While we made it to a safe place, others were not as fortunate," he said. "When the storm finally touched down, much of Jasper County and those areas surrounding it were destroyed or badly damaged."
That included Moye's grandmother's house — his official place of residence while his mother was pursuing her minister's license.
"I have lived with my grandmother since seventh grade," Moye said. "While I was still seeing my mother on a regular basis, the decision was made that it would be in my best interest to remain with my grandmother so that I could have some semblance of stability in my life.
"Prior to Hurricane Rita, my grandmother's house was my home. Many people in Jasper can testify to that fact."
In the days immediately following Hurricane Rita, the Jasper area was unlivable, Moye said.
"With no food, gas or electricity, we could not return home, and even if we could, we had no home to return to. My grandmother's house was destroyed after one of the large trees in her front yard fell onto it, basically cutting it in half."
And in so doing, it split Moye's high school athletic career in two.
|———|
After the storm passed, Moye said most of his other relatives went to live with family members and friends, and some were able to find housing elsewhere.
"My grandmother, mother, aunt and I decided that the only alternative that I had was to continue to live with my Aunt Merdith and enroll at Diboll High School, where she has taught for the past four years," Moye said. "In order to provide for my supervision and my transportation, my family felt that Diboll was the best possible solution to my schooling — as the Jasper ISD was closed at the time, and my home was destroyed."
With Jasper County virtually out of commission because of the hurricane, Moye's family enrolled him in Diboll ISD with no school records "acting on the belief that I would be covered under the hurricane waiver," Moye said.
The hurricane waiver, an edict of the University Interscholastic League, allowed for immediate participation at the new school for hurricane evacuee students. However, Moye's aunt — with whom he lived on his immediate evacuation from Jasper — lived in Lufkin, and the UIL's hurricane waiver did not carry the clause that permits teachers' children or guardian students in their care to attend classes in the school district where they teach.
That technicality was enough to dash Moye's hopes of becoming eligible for varsity sports participation for his junior year of high school.
"Sports is an important part of my life," Moye said. "And after several attempts to retrieve my school records, it was determined at first that I would in fact be eligible to play. I went about day to day, trying to re-establish some sense of normalcy in my life."
Then came the stunning turn of events. Moye was not approved to play varsity sports — a ruling that would ultimately be upheld by the UIL — since Shaw's residence, where Moye was staying, technically was in the Lufkin district.
"At first, I couldn't believe it," he said.
At a subsequent hearing of the District 21-3A executive committee, that ruling stood, and in a later hearing before the UIL board in Austin, it remained in place still.
Moye said that while he wanted to establish that "sense of normalcy" by immediately enrolling in his aunt's school district and immersing himself in getting on with his high school education, other people used the opportunity of his plight to wage a smear campaign against him.
"They posted negative blogs about me on Web sites," Moye said. "Meanwhile, other displaced student-athletes all over the United States were being allowed to play varsity sports, no questions asked. It didn't seem right."
|———|
Moye said through the entire nightmarish ordeal, he has resolved to stay strong — but at the same time he is constantly wondering, "Why me?"
"What's so special about my displacement that prevents me from competing on the varsity level?" he asked.
The gist of the ruling was that since Moye relocated from Jasper to directly move in with Shaw, his aunt, who had residence in Lufkin ISD, he would be immediately eligible to play varsity sports under the UIL hurricane waiver for Lufkin ISD — but not Diboll ISD, where his aunt is a teacher.
Officials with other school districts in 21-3A said that while they understood Moye's situation, they were compelled to follow the letter of the law, which meant ruling against Moye's eligibility since his first move from Jasper was to the Lufkin district — not Diboll.
Officials with Jasper ISD, from which Moye was displaced when Rita roared through East Texas, said the dispute was not a personal one, simply one dealing with rules.
"The UIL has the last word," said Dr. Eddie Dunn, superintendent of Jasper ISD. "Had the UIL ruled in favor of Gilbert, we would have accepted that, too.
"We think the world of Gilbert. He's a quality young fellow and a very gifted athlete. The fact that he's moving forward with his life speaks volumes about the kind of person he is."
Dunn said, however, he felt it was a simple call based on the UIL's residency restrictions for the ruling to go against Moye — both by the district committee and ultimately by the UIL. "We felt it was pretty clear-cut," he said.
Long story short: Moye must wait until the last week of September 2006 before becoming eligible to play varsity sports for Diboll ISD. That will be four weeks into next football season — his senior season.
But Moye said he is willing to pay that price and can't wait for September to get here. In the meantime, he'll quietly go about his business, playing sports at the junior varsity level until late September. He's banking on his sports prowess of past seasons — which has already earned him a top 50 ranking by Rivals.com of the state's top Class of 2007 football prospects — to keep the scouts remembering who he is. The Internet scouting service lists Houston, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M as favorites bidding for Moye's college services.
And of course when the deadline runs out, he'll be eligible for Diboll's final seven regular-season varsity games, including all five of the Jacks' district games.
"Those responsible for my ineligibility rulings have succeeded in keeping me from the varsity level in football and basketball, but I still will compete on the JV level," he said. "I will not be broken. I will stay the course.
"I will continue to stand for my cause, continue to stand for all that I believe. And I will continue to stay in the place that welcomed me when I was displaced — Diboll, Texas."
A place where Moye will be making his statements soon enough — on the playing field.
Gary Willmon's e-mail address is gwillmon@coxnews.com.
By GARY WILLMON
Sunday, February 12, 2006
DIBOLL — Talk about a roller coaster ride.
As a sophomore in 2004-05, Gilbert Moye quarterbacked his high school football team to the state championship game. It was an awesome high.
As a junior in 2005-06, Moye finds himself on what amounts to a one-year sabbatical. To most 11th-graders who are exceptional athletes, having already caught the eyes of college scouts, it would be the lowest low.
But Moye has purposed not to let a year of frustrations get him down. He has committed himself to taking a bad situation and finding the good in it, so that when all is said and done, he will emerge stronger than before.
Just as a passenger on a roller coaster, Moye can't wait for his senior year as a high school athlete in what he hopes will be the pinnacle. The peak. The highest point. The crowning moment.
With the exception of four weeks at the very beginning of next school year, Moye knows no one but God Himself will be able to take it away from him.
|———|
Just six short months ago, Moye was about to embark on his junior year at Jasper High School.
"I was so excited to return to the team that made a state championship game appearance the year before," Moye said.
As preseason progressed, Moye was moved from quarterback to wide receiver but was still a starter for the Jasper ballclub — and it was a change he embraced.
"I felt this was a good opportunity to gain experience in another position, which would provide me with more collegiate football scholarship offers," Moye said.
Later, Moye was moved to running back, yet another high-profile position he relished. "I believed that these changes were made in the best interest of the team as well as for myself," Moye said.
"As I was placed in different positions, I continued to improve and excel with the hopes of helping my team achieve the state championship title that eluded us the year before."
Then came Sept. 23, 2005. It's a day Moye said he will never forget. "That's the day my life changed forever," he said.
With Hurricane Rita fast approaching, Moye's grandmother — with whom he lived — decided it would be best that the entire family evacuate from their home and seek shelter elsewhere.
"With very little preparation or resources, we sought shelter in Lufkin with our nearest relative — my aunt, Merdith Shaw," Moye said. "She opened her home to myself, my grandmother and 21 other relatives. Imagine 24 human beings living inside a one-bedroom apartment!"
But Moye, ever the optimist, said having a roof over his head and a place to lie down at night was great with him, since he knew about others who had less than that. "While we made it to a safe place, others were not as fortunate," he said. "When the storm finally touched down, much of Jasper County and those areas surrounding it were destroyed or badly damaged."
That included Moye's grandmother's house — his official place of residence while his mother was pursuing her minister's license.
"I have lived with my grandmother since seventh grade," Moye said. "While I was still seeing my mother on a regular basis, the decision was made that it would be in my best interest to remain with my grandmother so that I could have some semblance of stability in my life.
"Prior to Hurricane Rita, my grandmother's house was my home. Many people in Jasper can testify to that fact."
In the days immediately following Hurricane Rita, the Jasper area was unlivable, Moye said.
"With no food, gas or electricity, we could not return home, and even if we could, we had no home to return to. My grandmother's house was destroyed after one of the large trees in her front yard fell onto it, basically cutting it in half."
And in so doing, it split Moye's high school athletic career in two.
|———|
After the storm passed, Moye said most of his other relatives went to live with family members and friends, and some were able to find housing elsewhere.
"My grandmother, mother, aunt and I decided that the only alternative that I had was to continue to live with my Aunt Merdith and enroll at Diboll High School, where she has taught for the past four years," Moye said. "In order to provide for my supervision and my transportation, my family felt that Diboll was the best possible solution to my schooling — as the Jasper ISD was closed at the time, and my home was destroyed."
With Jasper County virtually out of commission because of the hurricane, Moye's family enrolled him in Diboll ISD with no school records "acting on the belief that I would be covered under the hurricane waiver," Moye said.
The hurricane waiver, an edict of the University Interscholastic League, allowed for immediate participation at the new school for hurricane evacuee students. However, Moye's aunt — with whom he lived on his immediate evacuation from Jasper — lived in Lufkin, and the UIL's hurricane waiver did not carry the clause that permits teachers' children or guardian students in their care to attend classes in the school district where they teach.
That technicality was enough to dash Moye's hopes of becoming eligible for varsity sports participation for his junior year of high school.
"Sports is an important part of my life," Moye said. "And after several attempts to retrieve my school records, it was determined at first that I would in fact be eligible to play. I went about day to day, trying to re-establish some sense of normalcy in my life."
Then came the stunning turn of events. Moye was not approved to play varsity sports — a ruling that would ultimately be upheld by the UIL — since Shaw's residence, where Moye was staying, technically was in the Lufkin district.
"At first, I couldn't believe it," he said.
At a subsequent hearing of the District 21-3A executive committee, that ruling stood, and in a later hearing before the UIL board in Austin, it remained in place still.
Moye said that while he wanted to establish that "sense of normalcy" by immediately enrolling in his aunt's school district and immersing himself in getting on with his high school education, other people used the opportunity of his plight to wage a smear campaign against him.
"They posted negative blogs about me on Web sites," Moye said. "Meanwhile, other displaced student-athletes all over the United States were being allowed to play varsity sports, no questions asked. It didn't seem right."
|———|
Moye said through the entire nightmarish ordeal, he has resolved to stay strong — but at the same time he is constantly wondering, "Why me?"
"What's so special about my displacement that prevents me from competing on the varsity level?" he asked.
The gist of the ruling was that since Moye relocated from Jasper to directly move in with Shaw, his aunt, who had residence in Lufkin ISD, he would be immediately eligible to play varsity sports under the UIL hurricane waiver for Lufkin ISD — but not Diboll ISD, where his aunt is a teacher.
Officials with other school districts in 21-3A said that while they understood Moye's situation, they were compelled to follow the letter of the law, which meant ruling against Moye's eligibility since his first move from Jasper was to the Lufkin district — not Diboll.
Officials with Jasper ISD, from which Moye was displaced when Rita roared through East Texas, said the dispute was not a personal one, simply one dealing with rules.
"The UIL has the last word," said Dr. Eddie Dunn, superintendent of Jasper ISD. "Had the UIL ruled in favor of Gilbert, we would have accepted that, too.
"We think the world of Gilbert. He's a quality young fellow and a very gifted athlete. The fact that he's moving forward with his life speaks volumes about the kind of person he is."
Dunn said, however, he felt it was a simple call based on the UIL's residency restrictions for the ruling to go against Moye — both by the district committee and ultimately by the UIL. "We felt it was pretty clear-cut," he said.
Long story short: Moye must wait until the last week of September 2006 before becoming eligible to play varsity sports for Diboll ISD. That will be four weeks into next football season — his senior season.
But Moye said he is willing to pay that price and can't wait for September to get here. In the meantime, he'll quietly go about his business, playing sports at the junior varsity level until late September. He's banking on his sports prowess of past seasons — which has already earned him a top 50 ranking by Rivals.com of the state's top Class of 2007 football prospects — to keep the scouts remembering who he is. The Internet scouting service lists Houston, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas and Texas A&M as favorites bidding for Moye's college services.
And of course when the deadline runs out, he'll be eligible for Diboll's final seven regular-season varsity games, including all five of the Jacks' district games.
"Those responsible for my ineligibility rulings have succeeded in keeping me from the varsity level in football and basketball, but I still will compete on the JV level," he said. "I will not be broken. I will stay the course.
"I will continue to stand for my cause, continue to stand for all that I believe. And I will continue to stay in the place that welcomed me when I was displaced — Diboll, Texas."
A place where Moye will be making his statements soon enough — on the playing field.
Gary Willmon's e-mail address is gwillmon@coxnews.com.