Burwell’s Eligibility Hinges on Emotional-Hardship Plea

Junior running back Sean Burwell, who transferred from Chaminade High last month after a fight with a teammate, will learn Thursday whether he will play varsity football this season at Cleveland.

The City Section’s Interscholastic Athletic Committee voted Monday to empower the rules subcommittee to make a final determination on Burwell’s emotional-hardship petition, which was filed Monday by Burwell’s mother, Sharon.

The subcommittee is scheduled to meet at 7:30 a.m. Thursday. If it rules in favor of Burwell, he will be eligible to play Friday afternoon against Canoga Park. Burwell (6-0, 180), who rushed for 1,211 yards as a sophomore last season at Chaminade, has been practicing with Cleveland, awaiting a ruling on his eligibility.

“We want to get this resolved,” City Director Hal Harkness said. “If the petition is approved, we don’t want this kid to miss another game because we were sitting on out butts.”

At Monday morning’s IAC meeting, Sharon Burwell presented testimony on the altercation, which took place at Chaminade during a summer weight-training session. Burwell, who is black, is seeking athletic eligibility by claiming emotional hardship, maintaining the fight was racially motivated and that the school’s proposed punishment was too severe.

In order for Burwell to remain at Chaminade, administrators ordered a one-game suspension and demanded he undergo psychological counseling for one year at his mother’s expense.

“All of this is really putting this family through the wringer,” Sharon Burwell said. “Sean’s been depressed, it’s been very hard on us.”