H.S. Football Team Stripped Of State Title, Fined $12K+

June 19, 2012 / Football
Tampa Bay Online, Bill Ward

http://www2.tbo.com/sports/prep-sports/2012/jun/19/4/armwood-stripped-of-state-football-title-ar-417898/

The Armwood High School football program was stripped of its 2011 Class 6A state championship, its state runners-up crown from 2010 and fined $12,743 Tuesday by the Florida High School Athletic Association after a seven-month investigation into the use of ineligible players.

In addition, the school has been placed on three years of administrative probation and given an official reprimand from the FHSAA.

The final judgment was sent Tuesday in an 18-page letter to Armwood principal Mike Ippolito by FHSAA Executive Director Roger Dearing. The investigation determined the parents of five football players falsified residency information to get their children into the Seffner school.

Armwood is forced to forfeit all 15 wins from 2011 and 11 of its 14 from 2010, when one of the ineligible students also played. Tuesday’s ruling also means the Hawks, who finished last season ranked among the nation’s top prep football teams, must return all postseason trophies won. The FHSAA does not collect individual medals given at the state finals because it considers those items personal property.

Dearing said the fines are typically paid from ticket sales from the school’s athletic department. However, in Hillsborough County, the parents or guardians of all athletes sign a form specifically stating “any fines or penalties assessed against the school as a result of the actions of any student and/or parent will be the responsibility of the student and/or parent.” If the parent refuses to pay the fines, the student’s transcripts and records can be withheld from the college they plan to attend.

Armwood’s probation means any further issues with its athletic program could result in ever stiffer penalties, including expulsion from the FHSAA.

It’s the first time in Hillsborough County history a high school team in any sport was stripped of its state title. The fines, covering a total of 18 rules violations discovered by the FHSAA, are also the most any school has ever incurred in the county. But considering the FHSAA can levy fines up to $2,500 fine per player per game for schools that commit intentional rules violations, the fine Armwood received was relatively low.

Dearing said in cases where parents and/or students falsified information in order to gain athletic eligibility and the FHSAA can’t prove anyone from the school was involved, the school is typically fined $100 per player per game.

The largest fine ever handed out by the FHSAA came in 2010, when it slapped Miramar’s Parkway Academy with fines in excess of $250,000 and its entire athletic program five years of probation. The penalties were largely a result of using ineligible players on its football team, but resulted in Parkway being banned from participating in the state playoffs in any sport for five years. Eventually, the school had the fines reduced to $117,900.

Armwood can appeal Tuesday’s decision but since Ippolito responded to the charges by agreeing with all but one of the 17 violations outlined in FHSAA’s preliminary report, that’s not likely. However, the parents of the five players mentioned in the investigation from the 2011 team can appeal or file a lawsuit against the FHSAA with a private attorney.

Tampa lawyer Peter Hobson has been retained by four of the five parents named in the FHSAA report, as well as two recent transfers to Armwood who were declared ineligible by Ippolito following an in-house investigation of dozens of new students to the school in 2012.


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