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Thursday, March 9, 2000

Gregory-Portland soccer victories reinstated by UIL

State committee reduces district's penalty for paperwork error to reprimand, one-year probation

By George Vondracek
Caller-Times

Gregory-Portland High School's boys soccer team is back atop the District 31-4A standings after a three-member panel of the University Interscholastic League's State Executive Committee overturned six forfeits by the Wildcats.
   On Feb. 21, the District 31-4A Executive Committee had stripped G-P of five wins and a tie with Flour Bluff because an ineligible player had competed for the Wildcats. The Previous Athletic Participation Form for sophomore transfer Zach Kinney had not been forwarded to the executive committee in a timely fashion, the district committee ruled.
   G-P then appealed to the UIL.
   On Wednesday, the UIL committee unanimously reversed the forfeiture. Instead, G-P received a public reprimand and one year's probation.
   "The reason is that they didn't want to punish the players for an adult error," said Randy Vonderheid, the UIL's assistant academics director. "Because there had been few, if any, other paperwork errors . . . they felt it was a harsh punishment."
   The district committee received Kinney's paperwork a week prior to its ruling, making the player eligible. But it decided to take away G-P victories over Kingsville, Tuloso-Midway, Rockport-Fulton, Robstown and Calallen, and a tie with the Bluff. Kinney did not play in a 3-1 win over Alice on Jan. 28.
   Wednesday's ruling changes the Wildcats' record to 11-0-2 and 24 points following Tuesday night's 1-1 tie with Calallen (9-1-3). And it sets up an interesting showdown in the 31-4A finale Friday night when G-P visits Flour Bluff (11-1-1, 23 points).
   G-P, Calallen and Flour Bluff already have clinched playoff berths.
   "We're really happy with the results," said G-P superintendent Leroy Johnson, who attended the UIL meeting with Wildcats athletics director Tim Holt. "We felt like we did make a mistake and did deserve a level of reprimand, but that what happened was too harsh."
   Johnson said the school already has taken steps to ensure such bookkeeping mistakes do not happen again.
   "We had no idea going in what to expect," Johnson said. "We felt we needed to present our case and let the executive committee make a decision. "We just felt the punishment was too strong."
  
  
  

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Staff Writer George Vondracek can be reached at 886-3731 or by e-mail at vondracekg@caller.com

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