What happened at Myers Park (NC) High School raises important ethical questions.
In 2020, California’s fall high school football season was canceled because of the pandemic and the spring season looked doubtful. S0 Carla and Steven Lenhoff allowed their son Lucas to search for options that would enable him to play. After a thorough search, he settled on Charlotte, NC.
Lucas Lenhoff. Myers Park QB (photo, 247 Sports)
The family moved to Charlotte, and Lucas enrolled in Myers Park High School, one of the oldest and largest high schools in the state. Lenhoff was one of ten students from California and other states, including Texas and Georgia, to relocate to Myers Park. The Lenhoffs rented three houses to facilitate the player relocations.
A Myers Park parent notified school authorities about what was happening. and the authorities responded by investigating. Based on the inquiry, the school self-reported the situation to the high school athletic association. The association then ruled that Myers Park, which finished the year 8-4, would forfeit all of its games for the 2021 season.
“What upsets me,” Steven Lenhoff said, “(is that) people say we brought a bunch of ringers out here. Well, outside of one kid—and Lucas was probably the most well-known—besides the color of their skin, how were they ringers in football? A lot of kids didn’t even play. They hadn’t played varsity.”
Several of the migrating players have since left Charlotte, which prompted Carla Lenhoff to observe that “what happened with all the kids is the most disappointing part because I feel like I failed. I would’ve loved to watch all of them graduate together. It’s disappointing, and this is not about football, and I think people don’t get that. These kids have been together a long time.”
Courtesy South Charlotte Lifestyle
That said, let’s take a step back to analyze the situation. Words matter because they reveal how the speaker thinks. If we examine Steven Lenhoff’s words, we hear a white man defending bringing Black youngsters to Myers Park by explaining, “besides (italics added) the color of their skin,” how else would we see them as ringers? Lenhoff wants us to think that only Black players can be ringers or exceptional players, but he apologizes to those who did not play or make the varsity team. Is there subtle racism being expressed in his words, or is he speaking for us?
Carla Lenhoff wants us to believe that her family’s move across the United States is not about football, even though the Lenhoffs brought other players at the family’s expense to join the team. But Carla Lenhoff tells us, “this is not about football.” Well, it is about football.
The Lenhoffs have the means to help children, and they seem to have done so in a fashion. However, to move across the country so that even one child can play football is misguided. It teaches horrible lessons such as “Football is most important,” “If one is wealthy enough, he or she can buy anything,” and “Rules are inconveniences that can be circumvented.”
Those lessons were willingly taught to their son and other children, which is shameful. If the Lenhoffs want to help, many bona fide charities will accept their money without harming children.
