By Bonita Wilborn
The high school Class 3A State Basketball Championship recently won by the Plainview Bears was a wonderful accomplishment for the players, the school, and the community, but it was particularly satisfying for Karin Millican, mother of Caden Millican, a player that is home schooled.
Karin, a product of public education, a former teacher at Plainview High School, and a former girls basketball coach also at Plainview, along with her husband Chris, made the decision when their children were very young that they wanted to home-school them. While home schooling a child or several children is not for every family, it’s a great option when it’s the right thing for you and your family.
According to statistics, 90+% of the families who choose to home school their children cite religious reasons for their decision. However, tax paying citizens feel that simply because they opt against their children being taught in a public school environment, they should still have the option of allowing their child to participate in extra curricular activities, such as sports.
Caden was able to play recreational league sports through the sixth grade, but that came to an end when he entered the seventh grade because at that time the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) didn’t allow home-schooled kids to participate in public school sports.
Tim Tebow is the best-known home schooled student that participated in public school sports. Florida’s passage of legislation in 1996, allowed home schooled students to compete in public high school sports teams in the local school district in which they live.
Tim Tebow took advantage of this law when he chose to play for Trinity Christian Academy, the local high school in his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, where he played tight end. In 2003, he moved into an apartment in nearby St. Johns County, making him eligible to play for the struggling football program at Allen D. Nease High School where he could play quarterback.
During his senior season, he led the Nease Panthers to a state title, earned All-State honors, was named Florida’s Mr. Football and a Parade Magazine high school All-American, and Florida’s Player of the Year. Tim Tebow received the 2008 Quaqua Protégé Award as outstanding home-education graduate.
Tim Tebow went on to play college sports and on December 8, 2007, he was awarded the Heisman Trophy. He was the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, and also the first home schooled student to win the Heisman Trophy.
Karin’s Millican began what turned out to be a 3-year quest to get the Alabama legislature to pass a bill that would allow home-schooled students to participate in public school sports. It proved to be a real challenge, but most things that are worth doing are worth the effort, and this particular case is no exception. For three years, Millican lobbied the state legislature then finally on Thursday, May 7, 2015 Alabama’s House of Representatives passed a law that allows home schooled students to play sports for their local public school; known as the Tebow Law, because he was home-schooled before playing at Florida.
The Tebow Law does not ensure that home-schooled students get a spot on a team, just as any other student is not ensured a spot on a team simply because they are enrolled in a public school, however it provides them with the same opportunity as other students to try out for a sports team, providing certain academic requirements are met. Additionally, home-schooled students can only participate in school-sponsored activities after they have entered seventh grade and only play in activities for which the school is zoned, the same as any other student.
Passage of the Tebow Law paved the way for Caden Millican to play basketball during his junior year with Plainview (2016-17). The Plainview Bears were able to go all the way to the state final on 2017, but fell short of winning the championship. Nevertheless, they went back to the state final for Caden’s senior year and he ended up making the winning shot to give the Plainview Bears the 3A boys State Championship title.