WIAA says no playoffs for O-W, Amherst

Now, I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of Amherst football. In fact, I feel I have ample reason to be the opposite, if one still holds grudges over tenyear old football games. But I found myself agreeing with much of what was being said by the Falcons in their appeal of a WIAA ruling that they must forfeit their wins this season and thus miss the playoffs.

For those unfamiliar with the situation, the WIAA received a tip from a person who remains anonymous that Amherst was fielding a player that was ineligible due to it being his fifth year participating in high school sports. Under WIAA rules, students may only participate in high school sporting events for four years, after which they become ineligible to play. I have no problem with the law of the land itself, but rather its application.

Because as was mentioned numerous times in the Amherst camp’s appeal, the ruling to force the team to forfeit all of its wins, regardless of outcome, lacked common sense. The player in question had been homeschooled prior to transferring to Amherst and, during that time, played one year of high school football for Manawa during what was essentially his eighth grade year. This information was supposedly not known to Amherst administration at the time, and given the oddity of the situation, I would tend to believe them.

The reason being this; on most accounts, it seems that the ineligible student was a role player at best. He wasn’t a star runningback or defensive monster, so it makes little sense for the school and the team to risk so much for him to play.

Now, was the team negligent in their efforts to prove the eligibility of the student? Yes. A more thorough background check could and, according to WIAA rules, should have been done to prevent this from happening. As such, Amherst should suffer some sort of penalty for this lack of attention to detail on their behalf. But to cause them to forfeit every game they won, even those where they handily beat the likes of Spencer-Columbus, Manawa and Nekoosa, is an extreme reaction.

In this decision, the WIAA seems to have failed to take into account both intent and effect of the actions and laid down a heavy punishment as a result. The reason why these rules exist in the first place is to stop teams from exploiting students and thus creating both an unfair playing field and an unhealthy environment where there may be incentives to hold kids back from graduating just so they may play another year of sports. It’s hard to believe that there was anything so malicious attempted by Amherst, given the limited effect the player had on the overall success of the team.

To me, it feels like this ruling comes down to precedent, to showing other teams what will happen if they do the same.

Because this wasn’t the only questionable decision made by the Wisconsin interscholastic sports association in regards to football playoff eligibility; the Owen-Witthee Blackhawks too will be barred from the 2022 postseason. Owen-Withee changed over to eight-man football in 2020 due to lack of numbers, and WIAA rules clearly state that any team that changes will be ineligible to participate in the playoffs for two years after changing leagues. However, a clerical error on behalf of the WIAA made it appear to Owen-Withee coaching staff and administration that the team would be eligible for the playoffs this year. Paperwork incorrectly stated that the team would be eligible to play in the 2022 playoffs, and while the two-year rule was in place, Owen-Withee states that they were under the impression that, because they had not fielded a varsity team in 2019, the two years would be backdated to the time. But the WIAA refuses to budge, stating that while it was their mistake, the rules of the situation are clear.

It is possible that Owen-Withee is attempting to poke holes in the system, but again, this isn’t what the rules are set in place for. They are there to deter teams from flipflopping between eight-man and 11-man, depending on whatever suits them best any given year. But because the system is so big and rigid and seemingly infallible, it can’t help but follow the rules to the letter without considering if they actually make sense.

I guess the sad part is that, ultimately, the people being punished most from all of these decisions had nothing to do with any of the mistakes made, ill-intentioned or not. The players are the ones that will take the brunt of this punishment, and, through no fault of their own, will have their seasons cut short.

Regardless of if the WIAA or the staff of either school were at fault, it’s truly a shame that the players are the ones who will have to carry the burden of the consequences.

A C ertain Point of V iew

eporter