FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 3, 2006
FHSAA penalizes Out-of-Door Academy for violations in football program
The Florida High School Athletic Association has placed a two-year postseason ban on the first-year football program of The Out-of-Door Academy in Sarasota and levied other penalties for several rules violations in the sport.
The case involved the illegal participation of student-athletes in 2006 spring football practice and a violation of the Association’s rules on recruiting. This is the first year that the school has sponsored a football program.
The school was officially notified of the findings and penalties today.
“This is not the way we recommend schools begin football programs,” Commissioner John A. Stewart said. “Violations of the bona fide student, practice and recruiting rules aside, what was particularly disturbing to me was the fact that the school put at risk the health and wellbeing of eighth-grade students by allowing them to participate in football drills with students of high school age.”
The investigation determined that the following violations were committed:
• The school permitted a senior student-athlete to participate in spring football practice and represent the school in its spring football jamboree. FHSAA rules prohibit seniors from participating in spring football practice.
• The school permitted four student-athletes attending public middle schools to participate in one or more spring practice sessions with students in grades 9-11. FHSAA Bylaw 11.1.1 states that a student-athlete must be a bona fide student (enrolled and in attendance) of the school at which he or she participates in practice or competition. Rules permit the Commissioner, at the request of a district superintendent, to make an exception for eighth-grade students in public middle schools in his or her district to participate in spring football practice at the public high school they are zoned to attend the following year. Such middle school students, however, cannot directly participate in drills with students in the ninth, 10th or 11th grades.
• The school’s head football coach personally provided one of the four public middle school student-athletes with transportation to several of the spring practice sessions. The FHSAA Policy on Recruiting considers an “offer or acceptance of free transportation by any person associated with a school” as an illegal inducement, which is considered to be recruiting under FHSAA Bylaw 7.6.1.
The following penalties were imposed in this case:
• Reprimand.
• The school’s football program is placed on probation for the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years. The probation is a period of warning during which time additional violations may result in an extension of the probationary period, or the imposition of more severe penalties.
• The school’s football program is banned from postseason competition during the 2006 and 2007 seasons. The postseason ban does not affect Out-of-Door’s football program in 2006. As a first-year program, it already is not eligible to participate in the FHSAA state championship series. The ban, however, will delay the school’s first eligibility for postseason competition from the 2007 to the 2008 season.
• The school’s football program is banned from conducting spring football practice or participating in a spring jamboree or game in May 2007.
• The school is fined a total of $3,600 – $100 for permitting the senior student-athlete to participate in spring football practice, $1,000 ($250 each) for permitting the four public middle school student-athletes to participate in spring football practice, and $2,500 for the recruiting violation committed by the head football coach.
• Each of the four public middle school students who participated in the spring practice, should they attend Out-of-Door Academy in the ninth grade, will be ineligible to represent the school in interscholastic competition for one calendar year.
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 the FHSAA Office in writing if it intends to file such an appeal. Because the penalties include restrictive probation, the Association’s Board of Directors will hear an appeal if filed.
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.
Contacts:
Jack Watford
Director of Communications, FHSAA
(352) 372-9551 ext. 170
jwatford@fhsaa.org
