Home, But Not Alone
By Scott Koskoski

Jason Taylor stands 6'6" and weighs 260-pounds. The NFL All-Pro is preparing to spend his ninth straight year as the Miami Dolphins' starting defensive end. Jason Taylor was homeschooled.

Waiting in the wings is John Shaw, a Penn State junior who will help anchor the Nittany Lions' defensive line in 2005. At 6'4" and 294 lbs., expect Shaw to be one tough customer for opposing offensive linemen.

John Shaw was homeschooled.

These two men are visible examples of an emerging national trend: homeschooled athletes who not only excel, but want equal access to inter-scholastic sports at the high school level.

Well over a million households are now homeschooling, according to recent statistics furnished by the National Center for Home Education (NCHE). Since 1995, the homeschooling trend has grown by 11% annually. Just 345,000 high school-aged children were homeschooled a decade ago; today, nearly 1.7 million students - or 3% of the American high school population - receive private education within their homes.

When it comes to access to high school competitive sports, though, the road has not been fully paved for homeschoolers.

All 501 of Pennsylvania's public school districts must abide by the state law allowing parents to homeschool their children. Yet on March 27, 1995, Federal Judge Gary Lancaster ruled that in Pennsylvania, individual districts have the choice of whether or not they let homeschoolers participate on their sports teams. Today, 240 districts prohibit the state's 24,415 homeschoolers from athletic activities - even though their parents pay the same school taxes. Jeremy McNatt, a Fayette county teen whose lawsuit spurred Lancaster's ruling, never ended up playing high school basketball for Frazier High. The school board voted 6-2 against McNatt's participation.

That kind of uphill battle makes Taylor and Shaw nearly minor miracles. Woodland Hills football coach George Novak met Taylor, then a young transfer from the Steel Valley district, purely by coincidence and asked why the strapping teen didn't come out for the team.

"I assumed I wasn't allowed because I was homeschooled," said Taylor, recalling the situation. "Coach Novak petitioned the school board and Woodland Hills started allowing homeschoolers to play sports."

Taylor developed into a sought-after collegiate recruit and became a top tier linebacker at Akron.

"The only reason I got the scholarship to Akron is because I was cleared to play at Woodland Hills," Taylor said. "There are no homeschool football leagues." Shaw, meanwhile, can thank his parents for raising him within the Spring Grove (Pa.) school district boundary. Of 21 districts in the York area, only Spring Grove allows homeschoolers to participate in its scholastic athletic program. Without access to a high school team, there is little likelihood Shaw would've ended up at Penn State.

"We're fortunate that John was able to showcase his talent at Spring Grove," said Greg Trone, Shaw's high school coach. "What struck me was John's work ethic. He was incredibly driven, a real coach's dream. John was personable and fit in with the other players so well - You never would have guessed he didn't attend class during the day with them."

Without Taylor, however, Shaw's football career might have ended after Spring Grove. After his freshman season at Akron in 1993, the NCAA revoked Taylor's scholarship because he had been homeschooled. The Home School Legal Defense Association took issue and represented Taylor in negotiations with the NCAA, which eventually restored Taylor's eligibility.

Taylor's case led to massive NCAA policy overhaul concerning homeschooled athletes who are interested in collegiate athletics. Homeschoolers nationwide received a total of 49 athletic scholarships in 1998-99. That number could exceed 125 this fall, including John Shaw.

Coaches should be indifferent as to whether their players attend a brick-and-mortar school or are educated by other means, claims Robert Babish, executive director at PA Cyberschool, a computer-based "remote homeschool" located in Midland.

"Homeschooled and cyberschooled kids build the numbers in programs, which coaches desperately seek. Fitting in with teammates is usually not a problem, since many athletes within a school district play together starting as toddlers, whether in or out of school," Babish said.

As for smoothing the road to scholastic sports access, State Sen. Bob Regola (R-Hempfield) wants change. Senate Bill 361, recently approved by the Senate's Education Committee, would mandate that all Pennsylvania public school districts allow homeschoolers to participate in extracurricular activities, including sports teams.

"The only real difference (between homeschoolers and public schoolers) is that I didn't get on a yellow bus every morning," said the Dolphins' Taylor.