The season is over and they never got their chance to shine.

Amber Bohall and Michele Donahue, sophomores at Weedsport Central School, were dismissed from the girls track and field team at the beginning of the spring season for a violation of an attendance policy.

“The (school) handbook states that you must notify the coach within the first two days of practice if you will be missing any practices,” Amber's father John Bohall Jr. said. “After that it is the coach's discretion whether or not you can remain on the team.”

Bohall and Donahue were looking forward to their second season on the varsity squad and both knew they were going to have to miss some practices due to family commitments.

Donahue, who also runs cross country, was going to miss three or four days of practice because of a 16th birthday trip to visit her grandparents in Newfoundland.

“I was really nervous that they would kick me off the team once they found out I was going to miss practice,” Donahue said. “I offered to miss the first meet as a penalty for missing practice because there was no way that we could cancel our trip.”

Donahue's father, Mark, purchased the tickets for the trip in advance, not thinking that it would interfere with the track and field season. But it started earlier than he had anticipated.

“I told coach (Chris) Vargason the first day of practice that I would be missing some practices,” Michele Donahue said. “It was just preseason so I even offered to miss the first meet. He was understanding but said that they had had a problem before and he would have to talk to (athletic director Cal Mosher) first.”

Amber also said she informed the coach the first day of practice that she would be missing one practice during Easter break in order to travel to spend the holiday with family.

“The coach told me to talk to the athletic director,” Amber said. “I told him that I was missing the practice during Easter. ...The next day coach Vargason said that I was excused from the team, I wasn't even given the chance to change my mind about going on vacation.”

Bohall told Donahue the next day during class that they had been removed from the team and they both decided to attend practice that day anyway.

“Nobody said anything to us at practice that day,” Donahue said. “Then four days later the coach told me that if I was still planning my trip then I should not bother to come to practice because I was off the team.”

Vargason and Mosher had no comment about the issue. Both directed any questions to superintendent Shawn O'Conner, who stated that Vargason and Mosher were only following rules spelled out in the school handbook.

“The athletic director told us that if he allowed her to be on the team he would lose his job and the principal and superintendent would not change (the policy),” Mark Donahue said. “We went to the school board who sided with the administration. They were the voice of the administration, not for the people who voted for them. Then we consulted with a lawyer who said that we would have to go through the state who would probably side with the school. We passed a petition against the policy around and got 74 signatures on it.”

Michele Donahue made an emotional speech during a school board meeting where she addressed many of these issues and how much it hurt her to be taken off the team and to have to feel guilty about her 16th birthday wish of seeing her grandparents.

“I decided at the last minute to speak at the school board meeting because they needed to hear it from me,” Michele said. “I told them that I felt they didn't care about family although they say family is important and that I was punished for wanting to see my family. I don't feel like the school respects me and I could have lied and said that I was sick, but I didn't because I would not have felt good about lying. There is no reward for good behavior.”

While O'Conner stands behind the decision, he said revisions may be made in the future.

“There is a policy in the handbook and as a result of non-compliance, the students were kicked off the team,” O'Conner said. “As an administration and the board of education who represent the community, we are responsive to the concerns of the community and we are going over the handbook, especially over the policy on the vacation matter, to determine if it needs altering. The issue is in the past and we are trying to move forward to the future.”

Bohall and Donahue will be given the chance to try out for the track and field team next season, but neither is totally committed to the idea.

Donahue, who gave up gymnastics to focus on track, said her dismissal from the team led to social changes in her life as well.

“I definitely don't hang out with the track team anymore,” Michele said. “I am not a part of that family anymore, we can't be as close. Plus I don't like hearing about track anymore and I don't get the exercise like I used to. It's just not a good feeling.”

Mark Donahue was especially upset because he felt his daughter had the potential to break the school record in the high jump.

There are other kids saying that there is no point bothering to try out for the team if they have to miss a practice,“ he said.

“Had Michele not told them about the trip and lied about it, saying she had the flu, she could probably be on the team still. What is that teaching these kids? They tend to forget that this is high school and sports are there to teach them, not just for winning.”

Michele, a National Honor Society member who hopes to attend Columbia University for medical school, said she still enjoys running and takes to the streets in Weedsport every night.

“I really love running, and I love being on the team,” Michele said. “My goal was to beat the high jump record this season with a friend of mine, we encouraged each other. Now I have to run alone at night. We used to do a buddy system as a team and get together to run. It is really hard to get self-motivation when you don't have a goal to work towards either. It is just really different for me to not be a part of the team.”