Top cross country runner Emily Scheck disowned by her parents for being gay

Emily Scheck (right) and her girlfriend. Photo / GoFundMe

A collegiate athlete who has been given tens of thousands of dollars in crowdfunding donations after it was learned her parents disowned her because she was a lesbian will be allowed to remain on her team and keep the money.

The NCAA, the governing body of collegiate athletics, bowed to pressure and announced that it would not force Emily Scheck to choose between her Canisius College cross-country running squad and tuition money.

As Scheck told OutSports.com, she was disowned by her family after her mother discovered a picture of her with a woman she was dating on social media.

One text message from her mother read: "Well, I am done with you. As of right now, declare yourself independent. You are on your own. Please don't contact us or your siblings."

Emily then asked her mother why she was doing this, to which the mother replied: "Because you disgust me."

Scheck was left with a choice between leaving school and entering sexual-conversion therapy or being disowned.

The sophomore from Webster, New York opted against conversion therapy, and when she returned to her campus home in Buffalo, she claims she found her car's license plates had been removed and her childhood belongings had been shoved into the automobile, which she had purchased herself.

(According to Scheck, her father previously paid for the car insurance, but decided to rescind the payments and remove the license plates, and actually drove all the way from their Rochester-area home to do so)

What she had not paid for – tuition, books, and car insurance, among other things – was suddenly a significant problem.

"At the start it was definitely tough," Scheck told OutSports about moving on without her family's financial assistance. "I was lucky to be in preseason the first couple of weeks because coach could get us meals in the dining hall."

As Scheck explained, she has often had to rely on her girlfriend for food: "We've had a lot of meals together."

Scheck, who works several jobs, was on a partial athletic scholarship, but with bills mounting, she realised she needed help.

After her coaches tried and failed to find a solution, her friends stepped in to launch the GoFundMe page with the goal of raising US$5000.

As of late Saturday, the GoFundMe campaign has raised more than 11 times that amount.

News of Scheck's plight was reported by The Buffalo News, which also interviewed Scheck's parents.

Emily's father, Timothy Scheck, told the News he wanted his daughter to return home to participate in counseling sessions, but that did not mean conversion therapy.

He insists that the family accepts Emily as she is.

Timothy Scheck expressed regret for initial comments he made to his daughter, saying that they were coming from a place of anger and hurt.

He said that comments about disowning his daughter were a ploy to get her to come home.

"It's a private family matter," he said. "We love our daughter. We accept Emily."

Emily Scheck. Photo / Twitter

Emily Scheck, however, told the News that her parents' behavior changed after the GoFundMe page was created.

The story in The Buffalo News attracted even more attention to the crowdfunding campaign, which has so far raised over US$56,000 in just 11 days.

Scheck would either have to return the money or quit the cross country running team.

NCAA rules forbid college athletes and their families from receiving goods or services based on the status of the athlete.

That presumably included crowdfunding drives on GoFundMe.

Canisius's NCAA compliance office informed her she would be forced to either return every penny or to quit the cross-country team.

According to Scheck, the school offered to work with the NCAA to find a way to raise the money that would not put her eligibility in jeopardy, and an NCAA spokesperson told OutSports that all parties are "currently reviewing all options for the student-athlete."

But after being contacted by The Buffalo News, the NCAA changed its position.

It released a statement which read: "Emily Scheck can retain her eligibility and continue to receive GoFundMe donations that assist her with living and educational expenses."

The NCAA said that Emily could keep the money raised on GoFundMe as long as Canisius monitored the situation to ensure it was being spent on necessary items.

"Canisius and the NCAA will continue to work together in support of Emily," college spokesperson Matt Reitnour said.

"She is a member of the Canisius family and we will do whatever we can to assist her."

Emily's friends did their best to sway public opinion against the NCAA's initial stance by starting a Change.Org petition pushing for the governing body to declare Scheck eligible.

However, her friends did start a Change.Org petition in order to push for the NCAA to declare Scheck eligible.

Recently the NCAA approved a GoFundMe campaign to benefit the family of Florida State defensive end Janarius Robinson, one of many natives of the Florida Panhandle who have been significantly affected by Hurricane Michael.

A native of Panama City, Florida, Robinson told reporters in Tallahassee in October that that it "looked like someone dropped a nuclear bomb on us."

In a single day, the fundraising page pulled in US$81,000 by Thursday afternoon – quickly exceeding its US$75,000 goal.

Robinson and his family stayed in Georgia during the storm, according to ESPN, and when they returned to Florida, they saw extensive damage to both their home and the area.

"It was devastating to see something that you've been growing up in all your life destroyed," Robinson said. "Ripped to shreds."

On social media, Robinson posted pictures of his family's crumbling home, most of which had fallen to the ground. His recruitment letters from other schools could be seen strewn across his own yard.