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LOUISVILLE (AP) - A federal appeals court has upheld a ruling in Kentucky allowing a limit on merit-based scholarships for high school athletes at private schools.

The U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the claims of parents of four Louisville private school students who sued over the issue in 2009. The parents want the case appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, their attorney Teddy Gordon told The Courier-Journal.

The parents argued the rules force students to choose between participating in sports and getting tuition assistance they would otherwise be entitled to. The schools did not sue.

The appeals said Dec. 21 that the claims lacked merit and upheld a ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

The rules prohibit students who want to compete in athletics from getting more than 25 percent of their tuition costs covered by merit-based scholarships. They also prohibit students from receiving funding from sources outside of the school's "custody and control." There is no cap on need-based financial aid.

Kentucky High School Athletic Association Commissioner Julian Tackett said he was pleased with the ruling. He said it was crafted by private schools.

"They just don't have the funding to be throwing money around on athletic scholarships," he said.

The rules, which were adopted before the 2007-08 school year, helped "address perception issues" that private schools were stacking their teams with athletic recruits, Tackett said.

Gordon said the decision was disappointing.

"The Court failed to recognize the religious freedom of these Roman Catholic and Christian students who want to participate in Kentucky high school sports without losing their badly needed tuition that was provided to them based on their academic abilities," he said. "We are hopeful the KHSAA will review the ruling and stop penalizing academic achievement and their continual acrimony against all parochial schools."

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Information from: The Courier-Journal, http://www.courier-journal.com

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