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Brown's mother: 'I'm not giving my son away'

By IZZY GOULD
Published July 28, 2005

DADE CITY - Rosemary Brown is willing to let go of everything except custody of her son.

Her resilience could be the string that ties Pasco two-sport star Dominic Brown to his former school for his senior year.

The 17-year-old wide receiver/pitcher shocked his mother July 21 with his intentions to live with his father, Robert Walker, and transfer to Stone Mountain (Ga.) Redan.

Rosemary learned Wednesday by keeping sole custody of her son, he would not be eligible for athletics in a Georgia public school for one year because of Georgia High School Association bylaws.

On releasing sole custody of Dominic, Rosemary is clear.

"I'm not going to do that," she said. "He just won't be eligible, I'm sorry. That's more of a reason for him to come back here. If he wants to go with just those papers, that's his business. But I'm not going to sign over any rights or anything like that."

Rosemary called Pasco to verbally release her son, but the school insisted she sign papers. She also received a fax asking her to sign over sole custody of Dominic to Walker.

She refused.

Redan principal Andrew Tatum called Rosemary on Wednesday after he met with the school board to inform her Dominic was not eligible.

Rosemary had not spoken with her son or Walker since learning of his plans to transfer.

In that conversation, she learned Dominic was still upset after a 6-5 baseball loss to Orlando Bishop Moore in the Class 3A region semifinal.

He traveled to Georgia and Missouri this summer to participate in baseball showcases, where he was surrounded by the country's elite talent.

She said he grew closer to some of the players and wanted to continue playing alongside them this fall.

"He really never expressed that before," she said.

Still, she will keep her stance and wait to learn if Dominic will be back in Florida this fall.

"I'm not giving my son away," Rosemary said. "I'm not giving up no kind of rights. That might just make him come back."

Izzy Gould can be reached at 352 521-6517 or igould@sptimes.com

[Last modified July 28, 2005, 01:10:15]