By Matthew Santoni

Law360 (October 1, 2020, 7:29 PM EDT) -- Four western Pennsylvania high school students have sued the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association over restrictions it put in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, claiming the athletic league's decision to cut down on the number of participants in a golf tournament violated their equal protection rights.

The students, identified by their initials because they are minors, said the PIAA and its local district committee "arbitrarily and capriciously" reduced the number of students who could qualify for the Oct. 2 golf tournament by about half, so that golfers like themselves who had previously been qualified no longer made the cut.

"Defendants' last-minute decision to modify the number of individuals who qualify for the boys' individual tournament 2020 is unreasonable, was made in haste and is an abuse of discretion," said the complaint, which was filed in state court Wednesday. "Student plaintiffs' opportunity to play in said tournament will be forever lost, especially for the student plaintiffs who are seniors in high school."

The students sought a preliminary injunction to restore the "status quo" and allow them to participate in the golf tournament. The PIAA filed to remove the lawsuit from state court Thursday, arguing that because the claims were for violations of federal constitutional rights, it belonged in federal court, and filed a brief in opposition to the requested injunction.

"The petition alleges that the 'student plaintiffs are entitled to protection under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and the actions of the PIAA and PIAA District 10 must adhere to a rational basis standard,'" the notice of removal said. "Because plaintiffs seek relief on claims arising out of the Constitution of the United States, and said claims arise under the laws of the United States, this court has original jurisdiction."

According to the lawsuit, the students were juniors and seniors in the Conneaut School District and the Slippery Rock Area School District, whose regions were previously set to send their best eight and nine male golfers to the tournament, respectively. But the PIAA announced on Sept. 24 that it was reducing the number of qualifying golfers to four and five for the two districts, the complaint said.

The students said the PIAA was violating its own "guiding philosophy" of facilitating "representative tournament participation to all regions of District 10" by cutting the number of participants.

"Student plaintiffs have participated on the golf team during the entire Fall 2020 season and it was not until eight days before the District 10 Golf Individual Tournament was scheduled to commence that defendants arbitrarily and capriciously reduced the number of qualifiers to the extreme detriment of the student plaintiffs," the complaint said.

While the restrictions were ostensibly connected to reducing the risk of participants spreading the coronavirus, the suit said that golf was less risky than other sports that were allowed to continue without reductions in participation.

"The reduction in numbers has no quantifiable relationship on the spread of COVID-19 as it relates to outdoor activities such as golf," the complaint said. "Indeed, the number of players and coaches permitted to interact on a single football field, many of whom come into direct physical contact with each other, outnumbers the amount of golfers on any one hole in the context of a District 10 golf tournament."

The PIAA responded that the decision was made deliberately and with student safety in mind.

"The decision made by PIAA was not made lightly since PIAA seeks to provide opportunities to participate. However, it was made consistent with the recommendations of PIAA's Sports Medicine Advisory Committee, its Golf Steering Committee, and PIAA's concerns over permitting events likely to promote the spread of COVID-19," the league's brief said.

Moreover, missing a tournament was not "irreparable harm" necessary for granting a preliminary injunction, given that Pennsylvania courts had previously held that missing even an entire season of athletic eligibility didn't qualify as irreparable harm, the PIAA said.

Counsel for the students and the PIAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment Thursday.

The students are represented by George Joseph and Andrew M. Schmidt of Quinn Buseck Leemhuis Toohey & Kroto Inc.

The PIAA, District 10 and golf tournament director Michael Ferry are represented by Brian H. Simmons of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC and Alan R. Boynton Jr. of McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC.

The case is A.M. et al. v. Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Inc. et al., case number 1:20-cv-00290, in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

--Editing by Steven Edelstone.

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