On Monday, the Maine Principals’ Association Interscholastic Committee made a monumental decision when it stripped the Cheverus boys basketball team of its 2009-10 state basketball title.

It also made the wrong decision.

The MPA chose to strip the school of its regional and state titles after a two-year court battle questioning the organization’s ruling that player Indiana Faithfull should be ruled ineligible because he violated the state’s rule that players in grades 9-12 can only compete in four seasons of any sport, or eight straight semesters in any sport. It marked the first time the MPA had ever stripped a school of a title.

The MPA ruled Faithfull ineligible in January 2010 and Cheverus complied, removing him from the roster when the team was 15-0. Faithfull’s parents, however, challenged the MPA’s ruling in court, and Justice Joyce Wheeler granted an injunction and temporary restraining order, allowing Faithfull to return to the team. That was the right decision.

The Stags entered the tournament that year at 17-1, won the Western Maine title and then beat Edward Little 55-50 in the state title game behind Faithfull’s 23 points.

The MPA, in our opinion, discriminated against Faithfull because he had started high school outside of the state. Faithfull was a student in Australia before finishing his final three years of high school at the private Jesuit school.

It’s not his fault or Cheverus’ fault that Australia has different regulations for players, and indeed different seasons and semesters, than does the United States. Maine’s eight-semester/four-seasons rule keeps out students who take longer than four years to complete high school, but it also fails to address those who come to Maine high schools from other places. In New York, for example, a talented eighth-grade student could be called up to play at the high school level, but if they later moved to Maine, the current rules would require them to forfeit their senior year of competition because they had already played the maximum number of seasons.

The MPA should have made an exception in Faithfull’s case, understanding that his high school basketball career was affected by the unique circumstances of his first year being spent abroad. Are Maine high school sports really in danger of being overrun by outsiders who have an extra season under their belt and come here just to out-do the competition? We think not.

He, along with the rest of his Cheverus teammates, were just kids at the time, playing a game in a state not known for its basketball prowess or talent.

It doesn’t appear that the MPA is being malicious in this case. It’s not going to award the regional or state runner-ups the vacated title. Instead, it will just list the Class A champion from 2010 as vacant. It is not seeking any further penalties against Cheverus. It is not asking Cheverus players to return their medals, although it is asking the school to return its regional title plaque and state title gold ball. These acts, however, are ceremonial since we all know who won the title that year and which was the best team on the court.

In the MPA’s reasoning, it is following the rules that it has established, but these aren’t laws as voted on by publicly elected officials. These are rules, and rules should have more fluidity and be scrutinized when circumstances arise that are out of the ordinary. The MPA should have inspected Faithfull’s circumstances heavily and made the decision that, while he did play one more semester, he should’ve been allowed to stay on the team because he did not play nine semesters of basketball in this state ”“ or even in this country.

Faithfull appears to be doing well, as he is a member of the Division-I Wofford University basketball team. It’s safe to assume he is not going to be adversely impacted by this ruling. But the MPA is sending a message of indifference for players’ individual circumstances, and that is a shame.

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Today’s editorial was written by Sports Editor Al Edwards representing the majority opinion of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.