FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 7, 2006
Immokalee High School penalized for FHSAA violations in boys soccer, football
GAINESVILLE – Immokalee High School has been penalized by the FHSAA for violations in the sports of boys soccer and football.
The violations centered on the participation of three student-athletes who were over-age. FHSAA Bylaw 11.6.1 states that a student-athlete is eligible until the day he or she reaches the age of 19 years 9 months. Two of the three over-age student-athletes participated in the school's boys soccer program, the third in football.
Although the school became aware of one of the violations in October 2005, it did not report the violation to the FHSAA Office until May 2006. Subsequent investigation by the Association and the school led to the discovery of the two other violations. All three students were immigrants who had provided false birth certificates to gain eligibility. The school did not file with the FHSAA Office the required form for international students on any of the three students because they were not classified as "international students" by Collier County School Board policy.
The school was officially notified of the Commissioner's findings and penalties today.
"These violations are both unfortunate and disturbing," Commissioner John A. Stewart said. "The FHSAA age rule exists to ensure the physical well-being of all student-athletes. We have to be certain that teen-agers are playing against other teen-agers and not against adult men and women.
"While we have no reason to believe the violations constitute a willful misconduct on behalf of the school, we cannot dismiss the school's failure to ensure that the student-athletes were of the appropriate age."
In addition to a formal reprimand, the Commissioner imposed the following penalties in this case:
• The school is fined a total of $3,000 ($1,000 for each of the three violations);
• The school must reimburse the Association for the cost of the investigation (final expenses have not yet been determined);
• The school's boys soccer program is placed on two years of restrictive probation to encompass the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years. During this two-year period of probation, the school's boys soccer program is restricted from participation in all preseason and FHSAA state series postseason competitions. The school's varsity boys soccer team is limited solely to the permissible 25 regular season contests.
• The school's football program is placed on one year of restrictive probation to encompass the 2006-07 school year. During this one-year period of probation, the school's football program is restricted from participation in a preseason classic or jamboree, a post-season bowl game, FHSAA state series competition, and a spring classic or jamboree. The school's varsity football team is limited solely to the permissible 10 regular season games. Games played against Immokalee in the 2006 football season will not count in the district standings for any opponent.
• The school shall forfeit all victories by its boys soccer team and football team in which the ineligible student-athletes participated. Further, the school shall surrender to the FHSAA the following trophies: 2004 district boys soccer runner-up trophy, 2005 district boys soccer championship trophy, 2006 district boys soccer championship trophy, and 2005 district football championship trophy. Official FHSAA records will be adjusted to reflect Immokalee High School's participation in these state series as being vacated.
FHSAA bylaws ensure the school's right to appeal the Commissioner's findings, as well as the penalties assessed. The school has 10 business days to notify in writing the FHSAA Office if it intends to file an appeal. Any appeal would be heard by the Association's Board of Directors at its September meeting.
The Immokalee case and Collier County's interpretation of what constitutes an "international student" thrust into the spotlight the FHSAA policy regarding international students and how it impacts immigrant students. Since then it has come to the attention that a number of other school districts are not filing the forms because of similar interpretations. The Association's Board of Directors, which met June 1 and 2 at Atlantic Beach, authorized the Commissioner to review and revise the policy.
"Technically speaking, these immigrant students are international students according to our policy," Commissioner John A. Stewart said. "But therein lies the problem. Many immigrant students live here with their families, have lived here for years and have been in our public school systems during that time. In that regard they are not 'international' and our policy needs to be revised to redefine what an international student is.
"But regardless of how you define them, we – and by 'we' I mean the member schools – have to do everything possible to determine the correct age of these students. We will be incorporating into the policy new guidelines for schools to follow in determining the age of these immigrant students
Stewart added: "It is important that everyone understand that the FHSAA doesn't want to declare immigrant students ineligible, but we do want to make sure that ineligible immigrant students are declared ineligible."
About the FHSAA
The Florida High School Athletic Association is the governing body for interscholastic athletic competition in Florida. It has a membership of more than 700 middle, junior and senior high schools.
Contact:
Robert Hernberger
Assistant Director of Communications FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 190
roberth@fhsaa.org
