Harold Family at Walker H.S. Gets an Early Christmas Surprise

Thursday, December 20, 2018

Northlake Christian School, NOLA North Shore

Walker High School’s girls basketball team dominated St. Mary’s Academy 76-21 on Thursday, the first of a 3-day Christmas tournament at Northlake Christian School on the North Shore. The bigger story was the fact that two sisters got to play after missing the first 17 games of their season, making this game an early Christmas gift for Andre Harold and his daughters.

“Coach told us this morning that we were free, that we could play tonight. It was the best feeling ever,” said Tarondia Harold, a senior. She scored 12 and was the Lady Wildcats second leading scorer.

“It was great. I love being back on the court with my best friends,” junior Trinity Harold added. Trinity scored 9 in the win. “We didn’t know why we couldn’t play [these past 5 weeks]. We just kept hoping for the best.”

Both these players helped improve their team, but they are role players- not superstars. They add depth and support to star forward Tiara Young, an LSU commit. Young frequently drops over 30 points any given game, and tonight she scored 21.

On November 13, Walker Principal Jason St. Pierre was notified of the LHSAA ruling that three players- the Harold sisters, plus Nia Robertson- would be ineligible for a year. In addition, the school was fined $5,000 and Head Coach Korey Arnold was suspended for a year. Recruiting violations were referenced in the ruling, although LHSAA by-laws require a meeting with the accused school’s Principal and the Executive Committee before a ruling is made. The Executive Director and Committee omitted this meeting.

Robertson is a new transfer this year from Denham Springs. The Harold sisters transferred a year earlier, and sat out the 2017-18 season, making the Harolds’ new suspension on November 13 confusing and troubling.

After getting the news, Walker immediately requested an emergency appeal hearing. After several attempts to secure an appeal date, no response was heard from the LHSAA. Attorney, Charles Hardie of Hammonds, Sills, Adkins & Guice was retained as legal counsel for Walker High School. Hardie successfully represented Hahnville High School this past Fall, winning arbitration over the LHSAA, vindicating Hahnville HS and enabling senior quarterback, Andrew Robison, to play in the last three football games of his senior season after an 11 week suspension.

Tarondia Harold, like Robison, is a senior who hopes to play athletics at the collegiate level and earn scholarship opportunities. She lost 17 opportunities for colleges to see her play.

It is unclear what happened to prompt the LHSAA reversal ruling this morning. Following the announcement, William Weathers of the Livingston Parish News attempted to reach LHSAA Executive Director Eddie Bonine, but received no response. Walker HS and Coach Arnold still wait for a hearing date and can only assume the emergency hearing was denied, although that hasn’t been confirmed.

High school sports have become way too complicated, when it should really be simpler. Trinity Harold said it better than any adult ever could. She just wants to play basketball with her friends. Tonight, thanks to reasons that are still unclear, she got to do just that. Nothing is better than that in youth sports.