Bellevue (Wash.) prep football team receives postseason ban

The Bellevue High School (Washington) football program has received a four-year ban from the postseason, following an investigation into multiple violations by the coaching staff and student-athletes.

Bellevue High School (Washington)
Bellevue High School (Washington)

According to MyNorthwest.com, The KingCo Conference on Tuesday handed down the ban as punishment following a lengthy investigation that found several violations within the program. Infractions included boosters paying for student-athletes’ tuition, false addresses to gain player eligibility and recruiting by coaches.

From the article:

In addition to the ban, KING 5 reports that Bellevue will not be able to compete for a title and the team will not be allowed to play non-league games for the 2016-17 season or play out-of-state opponents for four years.

The punishment also says the coaches involved are suspended from the program and its feeder programs for two years and the Bellevue High School athletic department is on probation until the 2019-20 school year, KING 5 reports.

Boosters have argued that investigators intentionally skewed the facts to make the school district look bad, according to the article.

Last year, the school self-reported a number of violations and was put on three years probation by the state athletic association. Additionally, coaches were required to receive training on rules and procedures.

Entering last season, Bellevue had won seven Class 3A state championships in 10 years. The program is consistently ranked in the top 10 nationally by MaxPreps.

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