School says athletes shouldn’t be ‘political pawns’ in HB2 fight

The 2016 Cross Country National Championships were just moved out of Charlotte because of House Bill 2. Now, one coach is saying should his team qualify for the nationals competition, they won’t participate unless the meet is returned to North Carolina.

College of the Ozarks President Jerry Davis called the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics’ decision this week to relocate from North Carolina “another example of political correctness gone berserk.”

“It’s not the business of the NAIA to tell the citizens of North Carolina how to regulate their bathrooms, nor should athletes be political pawns,” Davis said in a statement this week. College of the Ozarks is a Christian liberal-arts college in Missouri.

The NAIA was to hold its men’s and women’s cross country championships at Charlotte’s McAlpine Creek Park Nov. 19.

Earlier this week, the organization said HB2 “creates an atmosphere where discrimination potentially exists for some NAIA student-athletes and personnel.” A new host location is expected to be announced next week.

Gov. Pat McCrory signed HB2 into law in March to nullify a Charlotte ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use the public restroom that corresponds with their gender identity. HB2 also overrode local ordinances around the state that would have expanded protections for the LGBT community.

In protest of the controversial measure, the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference have pulled major college sporting events from the state, and this summer, the NBA moved its 2017 All-Star Game from Charlotte.

This story was originally published September 29, 2016 at 3:47 PM with the headline "School says athletes shouldn’t be ‘political pawns’ in HB2 fight."