Armwood Football On the Line With Pending FHSAA Sanctions

The Armwood High School Hawks could learn as early as today, June 19, whether they'll lose the state title they won in December, according to a report posted by the Tampa Bay Times.

Also on the line could be the 14 games the team won in '10, when it finished 14-1 and lost in the Class 4A final, according to the Times report.

FHSAA executive director Roger Dearing told the Times on June 18 that "an error on our part" in the governing body's 45-page report on the program has delayed the issuance of sanctions against the program, which were expected to be revealed by now.

"It's not new information, it's an error on our part," Dearing told the Times. "It's a student we already knew about, we had the wrong year down."

• For more , read Clerical Error Will Delay Armwood Ruling, a blog written by Joey Knight of the Tampa Bay Times.

Below is a Brandon Patch chart highlighting the violations charged in a May 14 letter from the FHSAA to Armwood High School Principal Michael Ippolito, based on the FHSAA's six-month investigation into the matter. The chart highlights as well Ippolito's responses to those charges, as stated in a June 5 letter to the FHSAA's Roger Dearing.

In , 64 percent said Armwood should be forced to forfeit its season if a player was found ineligible.

 

VIOLATION PRINCIPAL MICHAEL IPPOLITO'S RESPONSE   Agree / Disagree Comment Keionne Baines (senior, linebacker) No. 1 Agreed Student participated in spring game. Did not participate in any athletic contest during the 2010-11 school year. No. 2 Agreed Information provided for student had been falsified to gain athletic eligibility. No. 3 Agreed Student participated in 15 football contests during the 2011-12 school year. No. 4 Agreed Student gained "impermissible benefit" through living arrangements between his father and [another person]. Craig Carrington (sophomore, linebacker) No. 5 Do Not Agree Student did not participate in any athletic contests during the 2010-11 school year. No. 6  Agreed Information provided for the student had been falsified to gain athletic eligibility. No. 7 Agreed Student participated in 15 football contests during the 2011-12 school year. No. 8 Agreed Student gained "impermissible benefit" through living arrangements between himself and the parents of [three others]. John "Jack" Lightsey (offensive guard) No. 9 Agreed Student participated in spring game. Did not participate in any athletic contest during the 2010-11 school year. No. 10 Agreed Student participated in 15 football contests during the 2011-12 school year. No. 11 Agreed Information provided for the student had been falsified to gain athletic eligibility. Gregory Newton (sophomore, running back) No. 12 Do Not Agree Student did not participate in any athletic contests during the 2010-11 school year. No. 13 Agreed Information provided for the student had been falsified to gain athletic eligibility. No. 14 Agreed Student did participate in 15 football contests during the 2011-12 school year. Javonte Sneed (senior, receiver) No. 15 Agreed Student did participate in the 2011 spring game. No. 16 Agreed Information from the student's family presented to the Section 3 Appeals Committee to gain athletic eligibility  was inaccurate and fraudulent. No. 17 Agreed Information provided for the student had been falsified to gain athletic eligibility. Armwood High School Staff No. 18 (Not specified) Claim is that head coaching staff failed to review the FHSAA Recruiting Policy with its staff. Principal's response: The policy is reviewed at the beginning of each school year in a head coaches' meeting hed by Donald Hill, the school's assistant principal for administration. Such a meeting took place Aug. 22. It is expected that head coaches review this information with their coaching staffs. "I asked Coach Callahan if he had done so. I was also present at this informational meeting." Representative of School's Athletic Interests No. 19 Agreed Two representatives of the school's athletic interests falsified information to assist a student in attending Armwood. Pointed out, for the record, that the "reprsentatives" were parents or friends of parents and not school district employees. Sources: FHSAA letter to Armwood High principal Michael Ippolitio, dated May 14, 2012, and the principal's response, to Roger Dearing, of the FHSAA, dated June 5, 2012.

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RELATED COVERAGE:

• ABC Action News, FHSAA Investigation Finds Five Armwood Football Players Ineligible for Falsifying Documents

• TBO, Armwood Also Faces Forfeiture of 2010 Season

• Tampa Bay Times, FHSAA Investigation: Lightsey, Sneed, Baines Among Those Who Falsified Addresses

• Tampa Bay Times, FHSAA Report Mostly Undisputed by Armwood

• Tampa Bay Times, Armwood High School Principal Concurs With Violations Report; School Likel To Lose Title

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