(8-30-23) Recently former Kenton (Ohio) football coach Mike Mauk was removed as the Glendale (Mo) head football coach. No reason was given at the time of the announcement. Mauk whose coaching career has seen a lot of conflict during his coaching career in Ohio…now is known for that in Missouri as well.

Mauk several years ago sued (case still active) the Springfield (Mo) Public Schools for age discrimination and now is the focus of a race discrimination lawsuit filed by a Senior quarterback who transferred from Kickapoo to Glendale to play this season.

Senior quarterback Kylan Mabins transferred after the school year from Kickapoo High School to Glendale and is is suing Springfield Public Schools and the Missouri State High School Activities Association (MHSAA). The lawsuit follows a MSHSAA ruling that he is not eligible to play this season for Glendale.

Springfield QB sues MSHSAA, claims racism sparked transfer from Kickapoo to Glendale

KOLR10 & Fox49 – You Tube Video

Mabins is asking for an injunction that would allow him to play football this year.

The MSHSAA has ruled that Mabins transferred for athletic reasons and because of undue influence from a Glendale coach (many assumed that this is Mike Mauk), whose name is redacted from available court documents. Mabins, meanwhile, claims in the lawsuit that he transferred because of racism and homophobic statements he experienced at Kickapoo.

Jay Kirksey, Mabins’ attorney said-

“It affects his future because, like all student-athletes who participate in their specific sport, their participation in that sport, especially during their senior year, affects their ability to obtain scholarships,” said And the ultimate goal of all student-athletes is not playing the sport, it’s to receive an education to better themselves as individuals.”

Kirksey added –

“He moved and transferred schools because of a hardship, and one of those hardships was an atmosphere that was hostile to him based on race and, and other African American students within the Kickapoo athletic administration. The lawsuit is about MSHSAA making an arbitrary and capricious decision that was absolutely unsupported by the facts and information made available to MSHSAA.” 

“There are numerous student-athletes in the state of Missouri, and you would hope and expect that MSHSAA and their respective school districts would care about the truth,”

Portions of the lawsuit…that is scheduled to be held today (Wednesday, Aug. 30) at 2:30 p.m. at the Greene County Courthouse.

  • “repeated acts of racial micro-aggressions, acts of racial discrimination, the creation of a hostile environment to African Americans as a race, homophobic statements and other misconduct by the coaches at that were detrimental and harmful to Mabins, and other similarly situated student-athletes at Kickapoo.”
  • SPS didn’t properly investigate the allegations of racism and provided inaccurate information to a MSHSAA committee that investigated Mabins’ transfer.

Updated:

Glendale quarterback Kylan Mabins did not receive an answer as to whether he will receive a temporary restraining order that would allow him to play in Friday night’s Falcons game at West Plains. Instead, the judge ruled that he would review the case and take up to 48 hours to give his ruling.

If Mabins’ temporary restraining order is denied, he will be ineligible for several weeks leading up to what could be a third hearing with MSHSAA that would take place at its board of directors meeting on Sept. 18. That would keep Mabins out of Friday’s game at West Plains, Sept. 8 game at Rolla and a home game against Hillcrest on Sept. 14.

Springfield Public Schools said in a statement :

“SPS is steadfast in our dispute of the allegations contained within the petition. SPS affirms the actions taken by the Missouri State High School Activities Association. We remain confident that our staff and representatives conducted themselves appropriately in this matter. In all circumstances, we focus on following MSHSAA guidelines in order to provide student athletes and teams with every opportunity to compete at the highest levels in the regular and postseason. Certainly, that commitment has guided every action taken in this situation.”

Mabins is not the first QB to transfer to play for Mauk’s wide open offense at Glendale. In 2017 Alex Huston transferred from Mauk’s former school in Ohio (Kenton) to run the offense.

Despite all of the drama the Falcons picked up a season opening win over Waynesville—