LilMtnCbn
08-27-2004, 06:32 AM
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04240/368626.stm
19-year-old adoptee asks for chance to belong by playing football
Friday, August 27, 2004
By Colin Dunlap, Tri-State Sports & News Service
Perhaps nothing is as American, or brings a community together, as high school
football, which gets underway in the WPIAL tonight with players at 61
illuminated fields trying to block, tackle, pass, run and kick their way to
victory for school and community.
Mt. Lebanon senior Gian Duffy just wants to be part of the experience.
Yesterday afternoon the WPIAL held a hearing to consider if Duffy, who turned
19 in early May and is an adoptee from the Philippines, will be allowed to play
this season for the Blue Devils. PIAA bylaws, which also govern the WPIAL read:
A student shall be ineligible for interscholastic athletic competition upon
attaining the age of nineteen years.
Duffy's case is unusual. His is a story of survival and of bearing the brunt of
personal strife.
Those factors were taken into account during the 40-minute hearing yesterday.
A decision as to whether Duffy, a 5-foot-5, 150-pound reserve cornerback and
receiver, will be eligible this season is expected to be reached before Mt.
Lebanon takes the field at 7:30 tonight at Baldwin.
At yesterday's hearing, Mt. Lebanon principal Dr. Zeb Jansante eloquently and
with visible emotion told the tale of how Duffy had overcome obstacles few have
encountered.
Duffy was born on May 10, 1985, in the Philippines and has a brother, Paul, who
is nine years younger, and a sister, Jenica, who is 10 years younger.
In 1997, at the age of 13, Gian Duffy became the primary caregiver and support
for his two younger siblings. At the time, Gian was attending a fifth-grade
class in the Philippines in a thatched hut with no running water while also
caring for the 4- and 3-year old siblings and providing a source of income for
the family.
After child care workers discovered the three children, they were whisked into
the Filipino foster care system and put up for adoption. In 1999, Jim and Sue
Duffy of Mt. Lebanon, with the help of the Hand in Hand adoption agency, were
linked up with the children and adopted the three, traveling to the Philippines
and bringing them back to the area.
Jim Duffy did not want to disclose the specifics as to how Gian became the
primary caregiver for his two siblings saying, "We don't need to get into it.
It's very, very personal. Let's just say he's been through things you'd never
want to go through."
When Gian Duffy arrived here knowing little English, he was placed in the
seventh grade and immediately became intrigued by football. He played for two
seasons at the junior high level for Mt. Lebanon, and went out for the freshman
team as a ninth-grader. In his first freshman game, Duffy's femur was fractured
in two places during a kick return. A steel rod was placed in his leg, and he
was advised not to play football the past two seasons.
This year, Gian Duffy, who carries a 2.8 grade point average, had regained
enough strength in his leg that he decided to play football again, and went
through preseason camp with the Blue Devils.
At the hearing, Jansante acknowledged that while Duffy is over the age limit,
he would not make the Mt. Lebanon team "more competitive." He simply wants a
chance to be part of the team for his senior season.
"I have always been a person who has understood rules and regulations and the
importance in them," Jansante said. "But, this is a rare, special circumstance
because Gian is a special, special person. This is truly a case where there are
extenuating circumstances."
Jim Duffy said he hopes the WPIAL sides with his adopted son and allows him to
play football. He recalled something Gian was told right before the child left
his native Philippines.
"When we went over to adopt him, the director of child welfare in the
Philippines sat Gian down right before we left," Jim Duffy said.
"She told Gian that he didn't need to be a mom and a dad to his brother and
sister anymore because my wife and I were now the mom and dad for him and his
brother and sister. She said, 'Just be kid, now Gian ... you can be a kid now.'
"
Now, all that kid wants is to play football.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
19-year-old adoptee asks for chance to belong by playing football
Friday, August 27, 2004
By Colin Dunlap, Tri-State Sports & News Service
Perhaps nothing is as American, or brings a community together, as high school
football, which gets underway in the WPIAL tonight with players at 61
illuminated fields trying to block, tackle, pass, run and kick their way to
victory for school and community.
Mt. Lebanon senior Gian Duffy just wants to be part of the experience.
Yesterday afternoon the WPIAL held a hearing to consider if Duffy, who turned
19 in early May and is an adoptee from the Philippines, will be allowed to play
this season for the Blue Devils. PIAA bylaws, which also govern the WPIAL read:
A student shall be ineligible for interscholastic athletic competition upon
attaining the age of nineteen years.
Duffy's case is unusual. His is a story of survival and of bearing the brunt of
personal strife.
Those factors were taken into account during the 40-minute hearing yesterday.
A decision as to whether Duffy, a 5-foot-5, 150-pound reserve cornerback and
receiver, will be eligible this season is expected to be reached before Mt.
Lebanon takes the field at 7:30 tonight at Baldwin.
At yesterday's hearing, Mt. Lebanon principal Dr. Zeb Jansante eloquently and
with visible emotion told the tale of how Duffy had overcome obstacles few have
encountered.
Duffy was born on May 10, 1985, in the Philippines and has a brother, Paul, who
is nine years younger, and a sister, Jenica, who is 10 years younger.
In 1997, at the age of 13, Gian Duffy became the primary caregiver and support
for his two younger siblings. At the time, Gian was attending a fifth-grade
class in the Philippines in a thatched hut with no running water while also
caring for the 4- and 3-year old siblings and providing a source of income for
the family.
After child care workers discovered the three children, they were whisked into
the Filipino foster care system and put up for adoption. In 1999, Jim and Sue
Duffy of Mt. Lebanon, with the help of the Hand in Hand adoption agency, were
linked up with the children and adopted the three, traveling to the Philippines
and bringing them back to the area.
Jim Duffy did not want to disclose the specifics as to how Gian became the
primary caregiver for his two siblings saying, "We don't need to get into it.
It's very, very personal. Let's just say he's been through things you'd never
want to go through."
When Gian Duffy arrived here knowing little English, he was placed in the
seventh grade and immediately became intrigued by football. He played for two
seasons at the junior high level for Mt. Lebanon, and went out for the freshman
team as a ninth-grader. In his first freshman game, Duffy's femur was fractured
in two places during a kick return. A steel rod was placed in his leg, and he
was advised not to play football the past two seasons.
This year, Gian Duffy, who carries a 2.8 grade point average, had regained
enough strength in his leg that he decided to play football again, and went
through preseason camp with the Blue Devils.
At the hearing, Jansante acknowledged that while Duffy is over the age limit,
he would not make the Mt. Lebanon team "more competitive." He simply wants a
chance to be part of the team for his senior season.
"I have always been a person who has understood rules and regulations and the
importance in them," Jansante said. "But, this is a rare, special circumstance
because Gian is a special, special person. This is truly a case where there are
extenuating circumstances."
Jim Duffy said he hopes the WPIAL sides with his adopted son and allows him to
play football. He recalled something Gian was told right before the child left
his native Philippines.
"When we went over to adopt him, the director of child welfare in the
Philippines sat Gian down right before we left," Jim Duffy said.
"She told Gian that he didn't need to be a mom and a dad to his brother and
sister anymore because my wife and I were now the mom and dad for him and his
brother and sister. She said, 'Just be kid, now Gian ... you can be a kid now.'
"
Now, all that kid wants is to play football.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
