Supreme Court won't review loudspeaker prayers at state football championship [View all]

Source: Courthouse News Service

November 17, 2025


WASHINGTON (CN) — The Supreme Court refused on Monday to put prayers at high school football games back in the spotlight. Three years ago, the high court ruled in favor of a coach’s mid-field prayers during games in Washington state. A Florida Christian school asked if such conduct could be broadcast over a loudspeaker.

“Nearly a decade ago, a bureaucrat decided that allowing two Christian schools to audibly pray in a stadium would breach the ‘separation of church and state,’” the school wrote. “It may seem like a trifle to some. But for the faithful at Cambridge Christian, and others subjected to religious discrimination by officials high and low, defending the right ‘to live out their faiths in daily life’ is no small matter.”

In 2015, Cambridge Christian School faced University Christian in a championship football game. The latter prayed over the loudspeaker when two Christian schools played in a previous championship game in 2012. Cambridge Christian made a similar request for the 2015 game, however, the Florida High School Athletic Association, a state-created entity that organizes and regulates a high school athletic league for public and private schools, denied its appeal.

Because the game was hosted at a publicly funded facility and it was a state action, the association said federal law barred it from granting permission for such activity.

Read more: https://courthousenews.com/supreme-court-wont-review-loudspeaker-prayers-at-state-football-championship/