Doug Wilson is a high school senior attending Marshalltown High School. He participated in tennis during the spring semester of his junior year. In the spring of 2000, Doug met with his high school guidance counselor to go over his schedule of classes for the 2000-2001 school year. There was conflicting testimony on whether or not Doug had a conversation with his counselor regarding his plans to participate in tennis during the spring of 2001. Doug testified that he informed his counselor that he would be going out for tennis in the spring of 2001. The counselor testified that she did not know Doug was participating in tennis until after the season had begun.

Doug signed up for four classes for the fall semester of 2000: Psychology, Mathematics, Film Analysis & P.E. He did not realize that P.E. was only 1/4 of a credit and thought he would have sufficient credit to be allowed to participate in tennis the following semester. The other 3 classes carried 1/2 credit each, for a total of 15 semester hours. P.E. translated into 2 1/2 semester hours credit, for a grand total of 17 1/2 semester hours; 2 1/2 hours short of the 20-semester hours required for athletic eligibility.

In April 2001, Doug was told by the tennis coach that he was eligible to play because he did not have sufficient class credits from the fall semester. On April 24, 2001, the Association's Board of Control voted to deny eligibility to Doug on the basis of 281 IAC 36.15(2)(c).

It was undisputed that Doug did not earn 20 semester hours of credit during the 2000 fall semester. Marshalltown High School had given him notice of the requirement in the student handbook. Although it is unfortunate that there might have been a miscommunication between Doug and the guidance counselor, neither the Association nor the Department controlled those communications.

That the April 11, 2001, decision of the Board of Control of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, declaring Douglas Wilson ineligible to compete in tennis, was affirmed.