Saline MI
10-01-2024 3:45pm

FOOTBALL: Saline Forfeits 3 Games Over Ineligible Player

The Saline varsity football team's unblemished record has taken a major hit. The Hornets have gone from 5-0 to 2-3 - and their playoff hopes are in jeopardy.

Saline is forfeiting their first three football games of the season for having an ineligible player in the lineup. The player moved to Saline from another Washtenaw County School.

The district provided no details about the violation. It's not clear if the player moved into the district and then moved out, or if he never lived here at all.

According to a statement emailed to football parents and the media by the district, the Athletic Department is responsible for enforcing MHSAA regulations.

Athletic Director Ashley Mantha clearly did not lay the responsibility at the feet of new head coach Kyle Short, who was also hired as a phys ed teacher.

“These forfeitures, while extremely unfortunate, do not diminish the hard work and accomplishments of the student-athletes or coaches. As a first-year varsity coach and teacher at Saline Area Schools, Coach Short has continuously demonstrated that he leads with both empathy and integrity. It is important to clarify that Coach Short had no involvement in the circumstances that led to these infractions. We fully support Coach as he continues to positively impact our student-athletes both on and off the field. In spite of setbacks, we are proud of the students who have demonstrated resilience and integrity throughout the season and look forward to their continued success," Mantha said.

It was just two or three years ago that the district was using retired Saline Police Officer Don Lupi to verify the residency of the athletes who moved to the area. Saline Area Schools spokesperson Jackie Martin did not answer whether Lupi or anyone else was in that role currently.

Martin said the district uses a variety of methods to verify residence, "one of which can involve sending a representative from the school to conduct residency checks. The name of the employee(s) responsible for residency verification is not relevant."

In his email, Superintendent Steve Laatsch wrote that the Athletic Department and district office "have held extensive discussions to revise our internal processes to prevent similar situations in the future. Greater safeguards with our Enrollment Office, Athletic Department, and compliance officer will help ensure this never happens again."

The forfeit of three games is in accordance with MHSAA policy, said Geoff Kimmerly, Director of Communications for the MHSAA. Kimmerly noted that the district "self-reported" the issues.

"Saline has been a model MHSAA member school for many years. We appreciate and respect how this matter was handled, and Saline is handling this unfortunate situation by the rules and with the highest level of integrity,” MHSAA Executive Director Mark Uyl stated in the district email.

In his email, Laatsch wrote that the district holds honesty and integrity in the highest regard. 

"When residency concerns that potentially impacted athletic eligibility were brought to the attention of Athletic Director Mantha and me, we investigated, and in the interest of honesty and integrity, self-reported those concerns to the Michigan High School Athletic Association," Laatsch wrote.

Wins and Losses

The player involved has been out of the lineup for two games.

Saline was 5-0 and on a path to the SEC Red title. That's not going to happen now. If Saline can win out in the SEC Red, the team will finish 5-2 in the SEC Red. 

Making the playoffs is up in the area. If Saline wins at Lake Orion (4-1) in week 9, the team will clinch a playoff berth. 

Either way, Coach Short and the Hornets have a bit more adversity to deal with. They've known about this issue for a couple of weeks now and have, therefore, known about the potential forfeits.

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10-02-2024 12:07pm

This is amazing?! Saline Schools has gone from 50 out of district students in 2019 to over 500 today and they forgot to get a member of the Varsity Football team into the School of Choice Program?

Remember each of the kids who live out of district live in homes that do not pay the Bond Money that in district families pay. With a average Bond cost of $6k per home this is over $3 million in lost tax revenue per year due to the program that the current School Board has authorized and then they can't even get this kid into the Program?

No wonder the test scores are 10% lower than in 2019 and projected to remain below that level until 2032 according to the Districts own forecasts.

Folks remember these details when you vote next month on whether to retain the current board members seeking reelection or do we need Board Members who actually supervise, analyze and govern the performance of the district rather than drive personal agendas or are cheerleaders for the mediocre performance of the current School Administration.

This mistake is just the most obvious mistake this Supt. is making every day.

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10-03-2024 9:48pm

The superintendent is not a voted on position; the school did not mention school of choice either. Making wild accusations and assumptions to push an agenda only demonstrates your values, not the schools. Meanwhile, the school was lauded for their self-reporting and honesty by the very organization in charge. It was a big mistake to be sure, but they took the necessary action to correct it. 

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10-04-2024 8:03pm

The previous Supt. reviewed every applicant for School of Choice or new students entering the district mid year to verify the information in the application.

When the individual was a athlete he made sure to explore the 15 exceptions to the one year ban for athletic programs and worked with the family to address their circumstances prior to enrollment. With 20 - 50 kids that was a simple thing to do. This Supt. did none of those things and has not chosen to meet with the family prior to submitting the report to the state. OOPS

When you expand the program to over 500 without putting in place new methods to manage this very important circumstance and no one in leadership (THE BOARD) does not question, monitor or otherwise Govern the conduct of the Administration of the District then they are not doing their job effectively.

Recognize that this individual has played in multiple sports, putting ALL of them as risk, highlights the mistakes made in this example and trust me take a look and you will find ALOT more examples of where the Board and this Administration has run on auto pilot for the last couple of years.

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10-05-2024 11:58am

I think the previous poster has a valid point and perspective, as do you.  And, subsequent events demonstrate the community does not support the actions of the Superintendent (I very much support what the Superintendent did).  This is messy and a parent who is paying high taxes to have their child educated in a system that is apparently not performing as it was and has had a ten fold increase in out of district students has a right to ask questions and even challenge.

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10-04-2024 3:00pm

I am having trouble understanding the notion that the school should not have self-reported this seemingly clear rule violation, given that the student in question participated in football and basketball all of last year too. Knowingly sitting on that information until the end of the season would seem to be unethical. Just my .02

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