GHSA Strips Girls Soccer Team of State Title Over Violations

A Georgia high school girls soccer team will be stripped of its state and regional titles by the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) due to violations of the organization’s bylaws.

Chamblee High School’s girls soccer team lost its 2022 state and regional titles after the GHSA determined that one of the team’s assistant coaches trained three student-athletes in a local club soccer program — a violation of the GHSA bylaws.

A recent report from WSBTV.com outlined the details of the violations by the high school and its response from administrators. Below is an excerpt from the WSBTV.com report about the Chamblee High School girls soccer team.

Officials said they investigated a potential conflict of interest and found that the team violated bylaws that have to do with undue influence, failure to exert reasonable institutional control, and allowing an unauthorized person to coach.

The GHSA also found that an assistant coach trained three players who were on Chamblee’s team at a local soccer club.

The school district said they plan to appeal the undue influence charge because they say the girls in question have been students in the Chamblee district since elementary school and were not recruited to the school.

“This is devastating news for our team and the hard work and determination they displayed all season. I am sorry this is happening to our players,” said Chamblee High School Principal Gail Barnes. “Our players are class acts on and off the field.”

The Georgia school will appeal on the grounds that the girls have been students in the Chamblee cluster and the district since elementary school and were not recruited to the school.

To read the full story from WSBTV.com about the high school’s violations, click here.