CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - Olympic High School senior Katie Matthews got the surprise of her life when she found out she was ineligible to swim.
She found out three days before an important regional swim meet. She had to watch as her teammates participate in the meet.
"I cried non stop." Matthews said.
She is also ineligible to play soccer. Matthew says that is the sport she really loves.
"I think it's a lot of crap," the student said. "Because it's unfair to us because we were not the ones who made the mistake."
Katie's mother said the counselor made the mistake.
"They set her schedule," Katie's mother Jean Matthews said. "To what they thought the interpretation was which was actually incorrect."
Here's the issue, North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) rules state a student must take at least three courses a day to be eligible to play sports in a school district. Katie only took two courses a day. She had enough course and wanted to stay to play sports her senior year. She says her counselor said that was okay.
"If they would have told me I needed three classes a day," Katie Matthews said. "I would have happily taken an extra class."
Jean Matthews is frustrated.
"Nobody cares," Jean Matthews said. "And as a parent - this is heartbreaking for me to watch her go through this."
The parent reached out to NCHSAA to see if her daughter could get back on the team. They said no.
"We got to be consistent," NCHSAA Commissioner Davis Whitfield said. "In how we enforce our rules and I think that is what we are doing in this case."
School Board member Richard McElrath represents Olympic HS. He says this is terrible and wants answers.
"I would like to know who got the information," McElrath said. "And why didn't they give it to the people who needed the information."
He hopes by finding out those details, something like this won't happen again.
Charlotte - Mecklenburg school officials say they will find out to see where the breakdown in communication took place.
In the meantime 12th grader Katie is sad because her dream of getting a scholarship for playing soccer is in jeopardy over a lack of communication.
"I have been waiting for this season," Katie Matthews told WBTV. "Dreaming about it - this was my season to shine, show all the scouts what I can do - 'cause it was a dream of mine to play college soccer. If I don't play this season that dream is crushed and I don't have that chance."
