The Freedom From Religion Foundation stood up for the First Amendment rights of student athletes in Lake Local Schools, after a cross country coach in the Uniontown, Ohio, school district led students in prayer before meets.

A concerned district parent reported that a cross country coach at Lake Middle High School told the team, “Let’s continue to pray before every meet like last year.” FFRF also was informed that coach-led prayer was common across sports teams in the district. 

FFRF’s parent-complainant and student complainant reported feeling helpless, awkward and embarrassed that the child was forced either to pray against their own conscience or risk ostracization by not participating in the unconstitutional prayer.

FFRF stepped in to remind the district of their obligation to remain secular. 

“It is unrealistic and unconstitutional to put student athletes to the choice of allowing their constitutional rights to be violated in order to maintain good standing in the eyes of their coach and peers or openly dissenting at the risk of retaliation from their coach and teammates,” FFRF Anne Nicol Gaylor Legal Fellow Kyle J. Steinberg wrote. 

Student athletes have the First Amendment right to be free from religious indoctrination when participating in their public school’s athletics program. Here, the coach clearly crossed the constitutional line by pressuring students, while acting in her official capacity as a district employee, to engage in prayer. The coach’s actions are particularly troubling for those parents and students who are not Christians or do not subscribe to any religion. Nearly half of Gen Z (those born after 1996) are nonreligious, so this likely represents a significant number of students in the district.

FFRF’s efforts proved successful, and the district superintendent confirmed that student rights would be respected going forward. 

“While employees maintain their individual right to pray, no district employees will lead student athletes in prayer,” Superintendent Brett Yeagley wrote via email. “The district met with all head coaches on Friday, September 12th, as part of our previously scheduled professional development day to ensure this important matter is addressed and expectations are clearly communicated.”

FFRF is glad to see the district put a stop to coercive prayer practices.

“No student should be forced to pray to play, ” FFRF Co-President Annie Laurie Gaylor said. “Students deserve a space where they can be free from religious influence while honing their skills — both on and off the field. It’s not only FFRF that believes that —  state/church separation is a foundational principle in our Constitution.”

The Freedom From Religion Foundation is a national nonprofit organization with over 42,000 members and several chapters across the country, including more than 1,100 members and two chapters in Ohio. Its purposes are to protect the constitutional principle of separation between state and church, and to educate the public on matters relating to nontheism.

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