From Trussville Tribune staff reports
MONTGOMERY –In a statement released by the Alabama High School Athletic Association, John Carroll Catholic and Muscle Shoals high schools are banned from postseason play for one year and a total of three assistant coaches have been suspended for recruiting violations.
According to the statement from the AHSAA, John Carroll Catholic High School has been fined and placed on restrictive probation for the 2016 football season by the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) for violations of the Recruiting Rule. The violations were self-reported.
Restrictive probation limits the school’s football participation to regular-season contests only and prohibits the school from participating in any interscholastic (football) contest involving more than two schools, including championships, for the entirety of the restrictive probation.
Coaches Donald Cunningham and Arthur Stokes have been suspended from coaching at any AHSAA member school and the student-athletes involved are permanently ineligible at JCCHS. Moreover, should incidents of this nature occur in the future, John Carroll Catholic High School could be suspended from the AHSAA.
“We appreciate the John Carroll administration for self-reporting the violations,” AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said. “We also commend JCCHS for their commitment to upholding the bylaws and mission of the AHSAA and for the corrective measures they have already taken to be compliant with AHSAA by-laws in the future.”
In a separate statement, the AHSAA said, Muscle Shoals High School has been fined and placed on restrictive probation for the 2016 football season by the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) for violations of the Recruiting Rule. The violations were self-reported.
Restrictive probation limits the school’s football participation to regular-season contests only and prohibits the school from participating in any interscholastic (football) contest involving more than two schools, including championships, for the entirety of the restrictive probation.
Assistant football coach Chris Balentine has been suspended from coaching at any AHSAA member school for one year and the student-athlete involved is permanently ineligible at MSHS. Moreover, should incidents of this nature occur in the future, Muscle Shoals High School could be suspended from the AHSAA.
“We thank the Muscle Shoals administration for their cooperation throughout this process,” AHSAA Executive Director Steve Savarese said. “Although we regret any time violations occur, we are encouraged to see how our schools strive with diligence to put into place protocol that will prevent these kinds of errors in the future.”
The AHSAA Recruiting Rule VI-Administration, Section 12 states;
SECTION 12. RECRUITING. No person connected in any way with a school may contact a student or prospective student, or his/her parents or guardian, who resides outside of the school district to inquire or encourage them to transfer or enroll in their school for the chief purpose of participating in interscholastic athletics. It is permissible for a coach, or anyone else connected with a school, to talk or speak with a student(s) or parent(s) who, on their own, visit their school for any specific purpose. Anyone connected in any official capacity with any high school who offers material or financial inducement or enticement to any student to come to that school for the purpose of engaging in athletics shall subject that school to suspension from the AHSAA. A violation of this rule renders the contacted student permanently ineligible at the school where the violation occurs. A coach in violation of this rule shall be barred from coaching at any AHSAA member school for one year. A school in violation of this rule will be placed on restrictive probation for a period of one year in the sport in which the violation occurred and assessed a monetary fine. Repeated violations of this rule will cause a school to be suspended from the AHSAA.