For twelve years, my little brother dedicated himself to Carmel football. From Carmel Dad’s Club to Clay Middle School and finally Carmel High School, football was never just a game to him. It was his childhood, his passion, his dream, and his future. He spent years imagining what it would feel like to play college football, maybe even make it to the NFL. His senior season was supposed to be the culmination of everything he’d worked for. One last year under the Friday night lights, surrounded by the teammates he’d grown up with. One last chance to show college recruiters what he was capable of - instead, his senior season became something no student athlete should ever be faced with: repeated discrimination because of a lifelong medical condition. 

My brother has Type 1 diabetes. And according to written communications from his own coach, the reason he lost his starting position was that he needed to step out of practice to manage his dangerously high blood sugars.

During his junior year, former offensive line coach Chip Stein told another player that my brother would never become a starter because of his diabetes. He also identified my brother’s use of apple juice to treat low blood sugar as his only weakness on his end-of-year football evaluation.

Think about what that means.

A young athlete’s medically necessary treatment for an incurable, lifelong disease was officially documented as his only  athletic weakness. 

Type 1 diabetes is not a failure of discipline, effort, toughness, or commitment. Drinking juice to treat low blood sugar is not a character flaw. Administering insulin is not optional. When Richard Velde became the new offensive line coach, he admitted to knowing about the previous coach’s mistreatment of my brother in writing, but assured our mom: “I nor the OL coaches nor Coach Wright will hold this against him.” We believed him.

Then Came July 20, 2026.

My brother had earned his place as Carmel’s first-string starting center, the position he’d officially held since the start of the season. During practice that day, his insulin pump malfunctioned, causing his blood sugar to climb to nearly 400 mg/dL. He stepped off the field to administer insulin and manage his condition. Coach Velde questioned his teammates how he could ever be expected to make it through a game - something he’s proven himself capable of at every game since receiving his diagnosis. The very next day, my brother was officially demoted to second string. When he asked why, Coach Velde confirmed in a text message: “The only reason I had to drop you down was because you couldn’t finish the practice…” The coach further explained that keeping a starting position required completing every practice period, with an exception for injuries. Apparently, an injury could justify stepping off the field. But treating a lifelong medical condition could cost my brother the position he’d worked years to earn. He wasn’t being lazy. He wasn’t refusing to practice. He wasn’t letting his teammates down. He was doing what he needed to do to stay healthy and alive.

Imagine being a teenager who has spent nearly his entire life working toward one dream, only to be made to feel that the medical condition you never asked for makes you unreliable. Imagine having to choose between managing your blood sugar and keeping the starting position you’ve worked so hard to earn. Imagine looking up to your coaches for years, trusting them to recognize your dedication, only to feel that something entirely outside your control has made you less worthy of their confidence. My brother was devastated.

He had worked through the challenges of Type 1 diabetes for five years without allowing it to take away his love of football. But he couldn’t simply work harder, practice longer, or push through his body’s need for insulin. Eventually, he made the heartbreaking decision to leave the team. Not because he stopped loving football. Because he no longer felt valued by the people he trusted to lead him. Our parents repeatedly raised concerns to Head Coach Kevin Wright and Athletic Director Jim Inskeep. Their supposed solution was for my brother to return to being a benched player on the team, without addressing the underlying discrimination. When my brother sought a meeting with his coaches to pursue resolution, athletic director Jim Inskeep told us the time to meet with coaching staff had already passed and offered a meeting after the season finished.

But his senior season was already slipping away.

The Friday night lights. The senior traditions. The final games alongside childhood teammates. The chance to be seen by college recruiters.

These weren’t just football games to him. They were moments he’d spent twelve years waiting for. Moments he will never get back.

What if your child had devoted nearly their entire childhood to something they loved? What if they did everything they could to succeed, despite living with a serious medical condition? And what if the adults responsible for encouraging and protecting them made them feel that taking care of their health was a weakness? My brother’s treatment raises serious concerns under Indiana’s Hunter’s Law and federal disability protections. We have filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, which remains pending. But this isn’t just about what the law requires. It’s about what our children deserve. They deserve coaches who recognize the difference between a lack of commitment and a medical necessity. They deserve school administrators who take concerns about discrimination seriously. And they deserve to know that their health will never be treated as an obstacle to their worth.

We Are Demanding Accountability. We are calling on Carmel Clay Schools and its Board of School Trustees to:

1. Launch an immediate, independent investigation into Head Coach Kevin Wright and Offensive Line Coach Richard Velde regarding their roles in the discriminatory treatment toward my brother and the handling of our complaints. Take appropriate disciplinary action based on the investigation’s findings.
2. Launch an independent investigation into Athletic Director Jim Inskeep’s handling of our family’s complaints, including whether appropriate investigative and corrective steps were taken.
3. Conduct an independent review of the football program’s treatment of student-athletes with disabilities, including the repeated discriminatory conduct.
4. Provide our family with my brother’s requested junior year end-of-year football evaluation, which we have not received despite requesting it in writing.
5. Review and enforce compliance with Hunter’s Law, Section 504, and the ADA, particularly regarding students’ rights to manage medical conditions during athletic activities.
6. Establish clear, enforceable protections for student-athletes with disabilities to prevent medically necessary treatment from being improperly used against them.
7. Provide a formal written response from district leadership detailing how these concerns will be investigated and addressed.

Please Stand With My Brother.

My brother cannot get his senior season back. We cannot give him back the games he missed, the memories he should have made, or the opportunities he might have had. And no matter what happens next, we cannot erase the pain of watching a dream he’d spent twelve years chasing slip away. But we can refuse to let his experience be ignored. 

We can demand that the adults entrusted with our children be held accountable.

And we can fight to ensure that the next student-athlete with Type 1 diabetes, or any other disability, never has to wonder whether taking care of their health will cost them everything they’ve worked so hard for. No child should have to choose between their health and their dreams.

Please sign and share this petition. Not just for my brother, but for every  child who deserves to be supported, protected, and treated fairly.

He needed insulin. Not a bench.                     — A Carmel Football Player’s Sister