As if on cue, at the opening whistle of Thursday’s AAA state championship soccer game in Macon, Decatur High senior Theo Davis leapt from a car, tore off his street clothes super hero-like, and raced downhill to the Mercer University stadium amidst the thunder of cheering fans.
Davis was arriving late because he’d stayed at school taking his International Baccalaureate history final. At least, he took half of it.
Thursday’s IB test began at noon, while the big game, 90 minutes away, had a 2:30 start.
Decatur qualified for the game with a Tuesday night victory over Oconee, but the day and time of the state championship weren’t even announced until that day. Decatur school employees including Superintendent David Dude spent a frantic Wednesday trying rearrange the whole mess. But they couldn’t.
“It puts the kids in terrible position,” Dude said late Wednesday. “You either take the entire test and miss your championship game, or you play and skip the test. Or you take the test in half the time normally allotted and barely make it to the game.”
The IB program’s only concession was moving the test’s starting time back half an hour. The Georgia High School Association, the sports authority, was equally rigid. If Decatur and opponent East Hall couldn’t swap game times with another pair of schools, the start time would remain 2:30. Which is exactly what happened.
Dude hopes future athletes won’t have to face that dilemma “They have prepared years for both of these events, and being forced into such a decision by the inflexibility of GHSA and IB is unacceptable.
“This situation is entirely avoidable,” he said. “The simple solution is don’t schedule a game during school hours. I will be following up with GHSA leadership to share our district’s disappointment with how this all was handled, along with potential solutions for the future.”
Four Decatur seniors skipped the test entirely and rode the team bus to Macon. All had spent two years taking rigorous IB courses that included intense homework, two days a week of taking a 7:30 a.m. seminar and completing a college-level research paper.
Bypassing the test doesn’t affect their graduation or college standing — each has already been accepted into a college. But it does mean they won’t receive an IB diploma.
It’s a diploma, however, that Davis needs.
“I’m going to Emory,” he said shortly after Thursday’s game. “If I get the [IB] diploma, I get 24 college credits, almost a whole year. If I don’t get it, I only get six credits. I only took half the test, but I believe I’ll have the required average in history to get my diploma.”
Arriving late, Davis warmed up quickly and entered the game 10 minutes into the first half. A goalkeeper who’s allowed only 22 goals in 20 games this season, he was mostly true to form Thursday as Decatur came from behind for a 3-2 victory.
“I can’t begin to tell you how weird this day’s been,” Davis said. “But it was so worth it.”
Senior Nathan Tumperi bypassed the test altogether after talking with his parents, who encouraged him to make his own decision. He’s been accepted to the University of Virginia and is one of 151 seniors statewide who’s a “Georgia Scholar.” He also scored Decatur’s first goal Thursday.
“Right now,” he said, “I’d love to have that IB diploma. I worked really hard to not wind up getting it. But also I know, five or 10 years from now, in looking back, I’m gonna rather have that state championship.”
Doug Altizer well understands the pressures the five seniors faced. He teaches social studies and a class in IB psychology, has a son who’s a junior on the team (not one of the five players involved) and, until two years ago, was the boys’ head coach. “I’ve taught these students and I’ve coached them since middle school,” Altizer said. “I’ve seen them develop in both disciplines. Championship opportunities are rare, to be sure. But I also understand if they (skip the test) the teachers who have prepared them for two years feel undermined.”
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