Wheaton HS unjustly punished

[Anonymous]

Wrestling is not a team sport but the entire team, actually 3 teams, has been punished for a coach allowing an ineligible player.

[Anonymous]

And did the coach receive a personal punishment? I certainly hope they did.

[Anonymous]

That's terrible.

[Anonymous]

Why punish the kids?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wrestling is not a team sport but the entire team, actually 3 teams, has been punished for a coach allowing an ineligible player.

What happened? Why was the player 'ineligible'?

[Anonymous]

That was a terrible judgment call from the coach to knowingly allow an ineligible player compete, in violation of MPSSAA rules. I feel so sorry for the team to no longer have a head coach or a season.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/wheaton-high-wrestling-season-canceled-over-ineligible-athlete/3276964/

[Anonymous]

It's a terrible blow for college admissions as well. The Principal was overly harsh to the students, but appropriately harsh with the coach, who is apparently no longer working for MCPS.

[Anonymous]

This is unfortunate, but the head coach behaved recklessly and has to be removed as a result of his piss-poor judgement. And without a head coach, how can the team continue?

[Anonymous]

By "ineligible student-athlete" does that a mean kid whose GPA fell below the minimum threshold, or someone who dropped out of the school but still wanted to compete or someone who was still a student, like a 19-year-old, but had aged out of MCPS Athletics competition?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wrestling is not a team sport but the entire team, actually, 3 teams, has been punished for a coach allowing an ineligible player.

As a former coach, I have seen this punishment applied to multiple coaches... Have seen kids submit fake documents, I have seen an assistant coach play ineligible players and the coach did not pay attention and the punishment was always the same. I myself make sure to do everything to the fine print because I did not want the kids who worked hard to forfeit an entire season.

side note. I have also seen this a lot in football and they have never canceled the entire season, just suspend the coach.

[Anonymous]

Details behind the ineligible student have been revealed: https://moco360.media/2023/02/13/wrestling-season-cancelled-for-wheaton-hs-team-over-a-technicality-parents-say/

The district first paused all wrestling program activities on Jan. 27 after receiving a report that a student athlete unaffiliated with Wheaton had been allowed to compete for the team. This was in violation of MCPS and Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSSAA) rules and regulations.

Wheaton tenth-grader Natalia Lazo said she was in the middle of a tournament at Blair High School when she and her teammate were informed that her entire team had been suspended for an undisclosed reason and that she would have to forfeit the rest of her matches. She said she was both upset and confused by the news.

The resulting MCPS investigation confirmed the initial report, finding that Ellis had allowed a student from a local Jewish day school to sub for one of the team’s regular players who was unavailable at the time, according to communications parents received from the school.

I can't understand why the coach thought putting a non-MCPS student-athlete in as a substitute was a risk worth taking. What a stupid move.

[Anonymous]

Are you saying team members didn't know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Details behind the ineligible student have been revealed: https://moco360.media/2023/02/13/wrestling-season-cancelled-for-wheaton-hs-team-over-a-technicality-parents-say/

The district first paused all wrestling program activities on Jan. 27 after receiving a report that a student athlete unaffiliated with Wheaton had been allowed to compete for the team. This was in violation of MCPS and Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletic Association (MPSSSAA) rules and regulations.

Wheaton tenth-grader Natalia Lazo said she was in the middle of a tournament at Blair High School when she and her teammate were informed that her entire team had been suspended for an undisclosed reason and that she would have to forfeit the rest of her matches. She said she was both upset and confused by the news.

The resulting MCPS investigation confirmed the initial report, finding that Ellis had allowed a student from a local Jewish day school to sub for one of the team’s regular players who was unavailable at the time, according to communications parents received from the school.

I can't understand why the coach thought putting a non-MCPS student-athlete in as a substitute was a risk worth taking. What a stupid move.

And yet, why punish the entire team? That is incredibly harsh and I hope it gets over turned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you saying team members didn't know?

Yeah, that's another question. Obviously the team members knew, so why were they ok with it?

Or maybe they weren't and one of them tipped off officials which is how the coach got in trouble? Not clear.

[Anonymous]

The school hired the coach and the county paid him, but the students are punished.