High school track coach in Indiana forbids student-athletes to gather for prayer before meets: Lawsuit

A high school track coach in Indiana has forbidden members of his team to gather for student-led prayer before meets, a new federal lawsuit claims.

The case relates to the girls' varsity track and field team at Lake Central High School in St. John, Indiana, near the Illinois border, about 20 miles southwest of Gary. According to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court earlier this month, before a meet in late February, Coach Ron Fredrick became upset when he saw several members of his team gathering together for prayer during warm-ups.

"Don’t let me see you do that again," he allegedly warned them.

The coach's alleged statements were soon reported to administrators at Lake Central School Corporation and LCHS athletic director Chris Enyeart, who reportedly promised in an email to a concerned parent that he would "look into this situation."

Whether Enyeart ever fulfilled that promise is unclear, but at a practice held a week and a half after the first incident, Fredrick addressed the issue and once again allegedly warned players not to gather for prayer. He explained that groups of three or fewer could have a quiet "moment of reflection" that lasts no more than ".5 seconds like a moment of silence during the national anthem," the lawsuit stated.

Because of their coach's repeated directives, the track athletes now "fear" that praying together may result in "punishment or retaliation," the lawsuit added.

The American Center for Law and Justice, a legal organization dedicated to preserving religious freedoms, has filed the lawsuit against Lake Central School Corporation, Superintendent Larry Veracco, and Coach Fredrick on behalf of the parents of two sisters on the track team: K.D., 17, and N.D., 14.

"Rarely are we presented with such a blatant violation of students’ First Amendment rights as has occurred here," said a statement from the ACLJ.

"Students do not 'shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate,'" the statement added, citing the Tinker decision of 1969, which reaffirmed the First Amendment rights of public school students.

The lawsuit seeks a judgment confirming that the students' rights to religious expression and assembly have been violated in this case, as well as an injunction preventing the defendants and their "officers, agents, employees, coaches, and staff" from similar interferences in voluntary student prayer.

LCHS Principal Erin Novak did not respond to Blaze News' request for comment.

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