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FH appeal question.

FHHSAHS hit the nail on the head. A kid could do nothing all marking period and still play until the grades came out. Since the Board gave the initial nod so that he could play, it would be nice to know the date as to when they realized the error and notified the school. That to me would make sense. Maybe that would help with the appeal.

You know a few years ago Mountain Ridge had a female athlete who was residing in Ridgeley. She drove to school every day in a vehicle with WV tags. She used another address, and she was in fact questioned about where she lived, but no one knocked on any doors. I wonder why they went out investigating this time. Anyway, FH will travel for the playoffs. It's nothing but a thing, and, if anything, it may make them a little more chippy than usual.

In the last week, the anonymous person has not been identified. You know that I feel that it came from across the river. Several on here stated that they had no reason to do so. Now I'm asking, when was the last time that Frankfort has won an Area Championship? This year, Frankfort has the chance to win a State Title but is still playing in the shadows of Fort Hill. I'm telling you that it is eating them up. Remember, that this is the program that listed a bunch of kids that, as far as they were concerned, should have been at Frankfort. The list was insane, but the funniest names were the three Robinett brothers. So much for my little rant, I could go on, but I won't.

FH / Ridge Freshman

When FH took a head count last winter of this year's 9th and 10th graders, there were roughly 52 kids signed up. You can only play 11 at a time, which meant you would need like a 4th and 5th string. That doesn't offer much playing time for everyone if at all. Splitting into a frosh team was the only way to help get kids on the field consistently. I think they ended up with aprox 38 players combined even after moving up 10 to varsity. They took their win/loss lumps on JV but I think they got an "A" for developing players through lengthy game experience. All of their losses were one or two score games outside of maybe two of them.

The Hollidaysburg JV QB threw for over 350 yards on them. That Hollidaysburg JV team was really good offensively. The Golden Tigers are going to be solid the next few seasons.
Todd - How many local teams field a freshman team?

I wasn't even aware that Mountain Ridge did until it popped up on NFHS.

FH appeal question.

One last question. I didn't see in the article any corrective action to prevent repeat occurrences. What should a county high school coach do if a new student athlete shows up at their school. Suppose a family moves to area from say South Dakota. How do we fully trust said athlete is eligible.
I think all parties (BoE and school) should be responsible for reasonably (to be defined) verifying residency. This will create a backup to prevent this from falling through the cracks. And, you can't say it's going to be a massive amount of work because how many out of district/state students are there really?

Also, how well do we verify out of district/state students not involved in school sports? Shouldn't this be looked at, as well?
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FH / Ridge Freshman

You're much better keeping them together as a team than moving them up to fill the JV roster.

Never understood the mentality of moving up freshman just fill a hole in the JV team. Is he ready talent and size-wise? If so, move him up. If not, leave him with the freshmen.
When FH took a head count last winter of this year's 9th and 10th graders, there were roughly 52 kids signed up. You can only play 11 at a time, which meant you would need like a 4th and 5th string. That doesn't offer much playing time for everyone if at all. Splitting into a frosh team was the only way to help get kids on the field consistently. I think they ended up with aprox 38 players combined even after moving up 10 to varsity. They took their win/loss lumps on JV but I think they got an "A" for developing players through lengthy game experience. All of their losses were one or two score games outside of maybe two of them.

The Hollidaysburg JV QB threw for over 350 yards on them. That Hollidaysburg JV team was really good offensively. The Golden Tigers are going to be solid the next few seasons.

FH appeal question.

I found it interesting that the article stated that the BOE/ACPS just accepted paperwork without investigating. You would think that under the circumstances that everyone knew, that the BOE/ACPS would have dug a little deeper. I still have problem with when actually did FH use an ineligible player. Said player was in an eligible status when he was on the field. Once he was put in ineligible status, he never saw the field again. I am a firm believer in INELIGIBLE is INELIGIBLE no questions asked. While also being a firm believer that Eligible is Eligible until proven Ineligible by the proper sources, provided proper sources gave the original eligibility status. My single question is if everyone did everything exactly by the book, (according to the article) then why would there be any punishment involved for any party. Just my opinion.
This is an excellent point. The only people who officially knew the player was ineligible was the family. You can say "yeah, but people knew he lived in WV". ..so? You CAN live in another state and go to a MD school. You pay $$ for it, but it can be done. So having common knowledge of one thing doesn't mean you know everything about that thing. The bottom line is, this kid was cleared to play by whomever job it was to clear him. He was not ineligible, he became ineligible once it was reported.

It's the same deal with a player who gets a failing grade that is reported right before homecoming and becomes ineligible. That kid may have been failing the entire semester, but until report cards come out or a teacher raises the issue he's still eligible. Do they make a team forfeit all their wins up to that point? No.

This all comes back to failed administrative oversight from the BOE/ACPS. They messed up. FH paid for that mistake. I said it in an earlier post, this raises a strict need for all out of district/state requests to have very specific parameters to be valid. They are given out like candy. There are kids in EVERY local school who don't live in their school's district. The process for how those permits are issued and monitored needs a serious review.

FH / Ridge Freshman

FH frosh beat Mtn Ridge tonight 32-12. Finished the season undefeated. FH didnt move any 9th graders up this season.

The JV finished 2-7. Ten soph starters got moved to varsity. No 9th graders moved up. Couldn't if they wanted to have a frosh team with numbers. Coaches knew the JV situation back in the summer. Kids that normally don't see the field never came off the field. That was the idea.
You're much better keeping them together as a team than moving them up to fill the JV roster.

Never understood the mentality of moving up freshman just fill a hole in the JV team. Is he ready talent and size-wise? If so, move him up. If not, leave him with the freshmen.

FH appeal question.

I found it interesting that the article stated that the BOE/ACPS just accepted paperwork without investigating. You would think that under the circumstances that everyone knew, that the BOE/ACPS would have dug a little deeper. I still have problem with when actually did FH use an ineligible player. Said player was in an eligible status when he was on the field. Once he was put in ineligible status, he never saw the field again. I am a firm believer in INELIGIBLE is INELIGIBLE no questions asked. While also being a firm believer that Eligible is Eligible until proven Ineligible by the proper sources, provided proper sources gave the original eligibility status. My single question is if everyone did everything exactly by the book, (according to the article) then why would there be any punishment involved for any party. Just my opinion.
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FH appeal question.

Couple of detailed articles in today's Times News about this situation. The paper said the student is no longer enrolled at FH and the conclusion was pretty much that this wasn't the fault of FH administration or the BOE but rather the fault lies with the parents as they falsified utility bills and lied about where the player lived. The reporter did ask the FH coach if this incident might prevent them from "recruiting" out of district players in the future. And the reporter did give his opinion that the "Free 88" signs were over the top as nobody was being persecuted here. Deception should not be celebrated.

FH / Ridge Freshman

FH frosh beat Mtn Ridge tonight 32-12. Finished the season undefeated. FH didnt move any 9th graders up this season.

The JV finished 2-7. Ten soph starters got moved to varsity. No 9th graders moved up. Couldn't if they wanted to have a frosh team with numbers. Coaches knew the JV situation back in the summer. Kids that normally don't see the field never came off the field. That was the idea.

Playoffs are set - FH at Alco Friday at 7:00

"Don't let someone catch us cheating,or you'll really piss us off."

🤣🤡
Oh yeah. It’s up to the coaches to go to the players house at 10 PM each night and make sure they actually live there. 🤣. I’m just kidding with you. If Fort Hill would have had number 88 against Alco, I think they would have won by 39 points🤡🤡
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