Ohio HS Punished for Donor-Funded Sports Scholarships

The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) has handed down punishments to the Walsh Jesuit High School for recruiting violations involving donor-funded sports scholarships for 11 student-athletes.

According to a report from Akron Beacon Journal, the violations were tied to the girls soccer and wrestling programs and, ultimately, resulted in the firing of longtime girls soccer coach Dino McIntyre. The violations were first self-reported by the private school in December, according to reports.

Additionally, Walsh Jesuit suspended its wrestling coach, David Mariola Jr., earlier this season, but he was reinstated within the last month.

Walsh Jesuit President Karl Ertle said the 11 student-athletes are either on the girls soccer or wrestling team. He said those 11 student-athletes remain enrolled at Walsh.

“We fully expect them to be Warriors and to graduate in great standing down the road,” Ertle said to the Akron Beacon Journal. “I am still waiting for final confirmation from the OHSAA regarding our consequences. We have been back-and-forth many times with the OHSAA reviewing different things as they ask for more information or more details about the things that we did self-report.”

OHSAA spokesperson Tim Stried said in an email to the Akron Beacon Journal that the executive director’s office has acknowledged the school’s self-imposed penalties/corrective actions, which also included some of the following:

• McIntyre is not eligible to coach at Walsh Jesuit again and will be excluded from the Walsh Jesuit campus for a minimum of 42 months until the current freshman class graduates.
• The involved donors are banned from the Walsh Jesuit campus for two years and forbidden from making donations, having connections, or communicating with Walsh Jesuit sports teams for five years.
• All Walsh Jesuit coaches will attend an OHSAA recruiting seminar.
• An athletic administrator was suspended for two weeks and will participate in the OHSAA training.
• Walsh Jesuit implemented a new protocol for the business office to have third-party tuition payments more carefully reviewed.

The OHSAA announced Thursday that Walsh Jesuit “self-reported a violation of Bylaw 4-9, Recruiting, when individuals within its athletic department obtained monies from outside donors and provided scholarships to students based on athletic participation.”

The bylaws prohibit “providing financial aid or scholarships to a student-athlete on the basis of athletic ability,” the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

“We deeply apologize to all of our competitive schools and friendly rivals. We will be in complete compliance going forward,” Ertle said.

To read the full article from the Akron Beacon Journal on the Ohio high school being punished for recruiting violations, click here.