Lawmakers: Jewish team's schedule unfair

DENVER, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Colorado state lawmakers have condemned the state's High School Activities Association for refusing to reschedule a basketball game set for the Jewish Sabbath.

Leaders of the state Senate said the HSAA's refusal to reschedule the high school basketball championship game, which includes a team from Herzl/Rocky Mountain Hebrew Academy, is "despicable," the Rocky Mountain News reported Thursday.

One state lawmaker indicated a discrimination lawsuit could be filed against the association for attempting to force players from the Jewish school to play on their Sabbath, which lasts from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday, while subsequently refusing to schedule games for the Christian Sabbath, Sunday,

The game is scheduled March 8, a Saturday, before sundown.

Bill Reader, commissioner of the Colorado High School Activities Association, defended the decision.

"We speak and work for 110,000 athletes and 340 member schools, all with different needs and desires," he said. "We can't be all things to all people."