Coach: NC travel ban to cost Minnesota athletes opportunity

FILE - In this May 13, 2010 file photo, St. Cloud State third-baseman Sam Radbil celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the Division II Central Regional NCAA baseball championship tournament in Farmington, N.M. A Minnesota state university system banned its athletic teams from traveling to tournaments in North Carolina, which passed a law that opponents say can allow discrimination against LGBT people. Most of the schools in that system are Division II or III schools; the University of Minnesota, a member of the Big Ten, is not one of them. The decision means that one of the top baseball teams in Division II, St. Cloud State _ ranked No. 3 in one of the top 25 polls _ will likely stay home and forgo the opportunity to reach its first Division II World Series later this month in Cary, North Carolina. (AP Photo/The Daily Times, Xavier Mascareas, File) FILE - In this May 13, 2010 file photo, St. Cloud State third-baseman Sam Radbil celebrates after hitting a two-run home run during the Division II Central Regional NCAA baseball championship tournament in Farmington, N.M. A Minnesota state university system banned its athletic teams from traveling to tournaments in North Carolina, which passed a law that opponents say can allow discrimination against LGBT people. Most of the schools in that system are Division II or III schools; the University of Minnesota, a member of the Big Ten, is not one of them. The decision means that one of the top baseball teams in Division II, St. Cloud State _ ranked No. 3 in one of the top 25 polls _ will likely stay home and forgo the opportunity to reach its first Division II World Series later this month in Cary, North Carolina. (AP Photo/The Daily Times, Xavier Mascareas, File)

By Associated Press May 4, 2016 3 min read

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Minnesota State-Mankato’s baseball coach on Wednesday lamented the lost opportunity for his team if it were to qualify for the NCAA Division II championship and couldn’t play because the tournament is in North Carolina.

Matt Magers said he believes Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system leaders were well-intentioned when they decided to prohibit sports teams from traveling to tournaments in North Carolina this spring after that state passed a law limiting specific protections for gays, lesbians and transgender people.

System communications director Doug Anderson said school presidents met this week and concluded “athletics-related travel is nonessential.” The NCAA Division II tournament and National Junior College Athletic Association Division III World Series are set to take place in North Carolina.

Magers coached Mankato teams to the Division II tournament four times from 2010-14, with the 2013 squad the national runner-up.

“It’s a life-changing experience, lifetime opportunity, and that’s everybody’s goal at the end of the season, to get to the national tournament,” Magers said. “To have that possibly taken away is tough. In the grand scheme of things, there are things you work for that you aren’t going to be able to accomplish. It should be about the student-athlete, and it would be unfortunate if they couldn’t go because of things out of their control.”