GHSA rules in Upson-Lee's favor on eligibility hardship appeal
By Michael A. Lough
The Sports Report
centralgasports@gmail.com
A year ago, Mary Persons had to forfeit wins after playing an ineligible player who transferred from Upson-Lee, and it was a no-longer-there U-L athletics director who shared the info with the GHSA.
Upson-Lee faced a similar situation, as first cited by the Monroe County Reporter and further reported on by the Upson Beacon, which included information regarding how information was released, as well as the name of the player, noted by the Reporter citing only an anonymous source.
The Forsyth paper, which previewed the Mary Persons’ game with Upson-Lee with “MP itches for snitches” as its headline, quoted GHSA executive director Tim Scott as stating when Upson-Lee contacted the GHSA initially and self-reported as well as self-imposed not playing the player.
Last year, the GHSA ruled the Mary Persons player ineligible, derailing a playoff season when the Bulldogs had to forfeit three wins en route to a 2-8 season.
Monroe County Schools superintendent Jim Finch is the GHSA president, which is more of a prime committee position, compared to Scott’s role as the head of the organization that oversees extracurricular activities – more than just athletics – of nearly 460 high schools in the state.
The scenario was different for Upson-Lee, as was the result, head coach Justin Elder told The Central Georgia Sports Report on Wednesday.
He said the current Knights player was academically eligible and had made a bona fide move, which he said wasn’t the case with the Mary Persons player, who had transferred from Upson-Lee. Former Upson-Lee athletics director Tripp Busby – who resigned within a month and was replaced by long-time Central Georgia coach Chris Kirksey, on U-L staff at the time - reportedly alerted the GHSA of the ineligible Mary Persons player, who is on this year’s roster and eligible.
Elder said Upson-Lee went through the proper procedures and filled out the proper forms, and the GHSA deemed the player eligible before the season.
The issue dealt with a missing form, Form B. The player attended Upson-Lee and transferred to Utopian Academy near Atlanta when the father got a job at the airport.
When his hours – and thus, compensation – were drastically cut, Elder said, they decided to move back to Thomaston last February, the player’s junior year.
He didn’t compete in any spring sports, but came out for football. Elder turned in his roster for an eligibility check.
“If you're a migratory student like that that hadn't been here for over a year, you’ve got to turn in a Form B to show where you moved from,” said Elder, a Mary Persons grad and former Bulldog quarterback and assistant coach. “If he wants to play sports within a year (of moving), you have to turn in Form B.”
The school realized recently it was missing that form, alerted Elder, and the school self-reported on the day of the Mary Persons game. The GHSA hardship committee heard the appeal on Tuesday and ruled the player – who Elder said currently plays less than 10 plays a game on special teams – was eligible, and there was no penalty.
“I’ve been head coach here nine years, and I’ve never done a Form B, and I’ve turned in everything,” Elder said. “We don’t have people move in.
“The committee, they saw and understood how that could happen.”
Elder said that when an eligibility issue emerges, especially when a team reports itself, the next opponent is notified of the player in question so that team may keep an eye out for any attempts to sneak in an ineligible player.
And the situation developed before Upson-Lee played Mary Persons, and won 17-14 in overtime. The player didn’t play, but he’s back for the Knights’ game next week against Fayette County.