Mother says CMS insurance treats boys tackle and girls flag football differently

CHARLOTTE — When you think of high school football, you probably think of boys and tackle football. But recently, girls across the Charlotte area have gotten in on the action, playing flag football for their schools.

Among them is rising 10th grader Karmin Bachnik.

“We’re always throwing [a] football so she actually has a beautiful arm,” her mother Robin told Action 9′s Jason Stoogenke.

She says Karmin was playing for Hough High School at a tournament at Bank of America Stadium a few months back and seriously hurt her foot.

“There was two things — Lisfranc was one of them, and then there was a break,” she said. Lisfranc may sound familiar. Cam Newton suffered that injury in 2019.

Bachnik says she has health insurance and that it’s picking up most of the tab, but that her portion is still pricey. She says it’s close to $10,000.

She showed Stoogenke paperwork which says Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools carries football insurance parents don’t have to pay for, but that it only applies to boys tackle football, not girls flag football.

“I’m just trying to get what I paid back because she was hurt from the school,” she said.

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Bachnik says she filed a Title IX complaint with the district. The well-known law says schools need to treat boys and girls similarly.

But she says the school system emailed her, saying boys tackle football and girls flag football are not the same, and that the “risk of accidents” is “significantly higher” for tackle football. Plus, it says boys tackle football is “an established sport that competes state-wide [sic] while girls flag football is considered a club sport.” It also says that while the district does carry insurance for tackle football free to parents, parents can still buy insurance for other sports, including flag football, at “minimal [cost] for the same benefits.”

Bachnik feels school districts should treat boys tackle football and girls flag football the same when it comes to insurance.

“Football in my eyes is football,” she said. “I feel like flag football should be considered as football.”

CMS wouldn’t answer any of Action 9′s questions for this news report, even just to confirm the district’s insurance policies.

In the meantime, Bachnik started a petition to “mandate equal insurance coverage” for contact and flag football. At last check, it had about 275 signatures.

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