Maryland high school faces fallout from player eligibility issues

Appeal denied a major defeat for one of the top football teams in Maryland. Wise High School in Prince George's County forced to forfeit four wins over a player eligibility infraction. Fox 5's chief legal correspondent Katie Barlow live in Upper Marlboro tonight. And Katie, parents are upset. That's right. Although some of the family members we spoke to today outside of Wise High School actually had no idea that the football team, one of the best in the state, went from the top of the bracket to the bottom heading into this playoff season, although they at least still get to play. The family members we spoke to, some were disappointed, but some just didn't see it coming. And now this one student, a football player, has been ruled ineligible because of Because of residency requirements, we don't have any. We don't have any further details than that, but because of that, the football team was forced to forfeit four victories on the season this year. They tried to appeal to the State Athletic Association, but got denied. I think it's unfair. I think that, you know, understand you got one situation with a kid, but the second, you know, to penalize the whole team, that ain't right. You know, that's the easy way out to me. Eligibility violations forcing forfeitures in high school athletics, that's not really new. In January of this year, an outside law firm confirmed that Hayfield High School's football program over in Fairfax County, Virginia, had several problems running afoul of the Virginia High School League's rules on eligibility. Hayfield's 2024 violations resulted in a two-year post-season ban. Forfeitures for eligibility violations are not even new here at Wise High School, where last year the boys basketball team who went 18 to 2 on the season was forced to forfeit every win after the county determined that ineligible students participated. The school promised to strengthen its compliance procedures then, but just one year later, the football team finds itself in a similar position. I think that the school needs to really probably reevaluate whether it's recruiting or it's not recruiting for this particular locality. And if they are recruiting, Then ultimately, they probably need to figure out ways to. Consider fairness for students that live there and students that don't live there. Wise head coach Steve Rapp defended the student with our Chad Ricardo in an interview on Friday saying this student is not somebody who transferred at the last minute trying to play in the postseason or at all, but rather someone who has been with the program for all four years. of people? Of course. Katie? All right. I'm going to get that. Okay. See you. You're welcome.