After disqualification, Warwick Co-op fights to get spot back

By Matt Metcalf and Jacob Marrocco
Posted 3/22/16

The Warwick Co-op girls’ ice hockey team was disqualified from the state title series on Friday for having an academically ineligible player, but the Lady Titans and its supporters are still …

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After disqualification, Warwick Co-op fights to get spot back

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The Warwick Co-op girls’ ice hockey team was disqualified from the state title series on Friday for having an academically ineligible player, but the Lady Titans and its supporters are still fighting for the spot they earned.

The story began Friday afternoon when the @RIIL_sports account posted a tweet saying that due to “unforeseen circumstances” the girls’ ice hockey championship series was postponed until Monday. Soon after, the RIIL tweeted out the new schedule of games, but this time with East Bay Co-op facing La Salle instead of Warwick Co-op. The Lady Titans swept East Bay Co-op in the semifinals.

Replies to the tweet asked whether this was a mistake, or a development had occurred that disallowed Warwick from participating. It was the latter. “The unforeseen circumstances include a change in the finals matchup,” @RIIL_sports said in a direct message on the matter on Friday at 3:52 p.m. “Series is [postponed] until Monday and [RIIL Executive Director] Tom Mezzanotte will provide a statement then.”

Mezzanotte had yet to provide a statement as of press time Monday.

It turns out that an unidentified Toll Gate student-athlete, according to multiple sources close to the matter, was academically ineligible and had been playing in games throughout February and March. The player in question failed two classes, which was in compliance with the RIIL standard of maintaining a “passing grade in sixty (60%) percent of his/her program (credits).”

However, the next line in Article 3, Section 3 spelled trouble in this case: “This is a minimum standard; some schools may have other higher standards.” This applies to Warwick, where two cumulative failing grades results in academic ineligibility.

According to sources, parents and players are protesting the ruling in order to maintain the team’s spot in the finals.

Warwick Superintendent Philip Thornton confirmed to the Beacon in a phone interview Monday that it was a Toll Gate vice principal and Athletic Director William Parker who called the RIIL to report the player. A source later said that the vice principal was David Tober.

Multiple sources told the Beacon this call took place on Friday. Report cards had been released more than six weeks prior.

On Sunday, a meeting was held at Toll Gate High School between administrators from Vets and Toll Gate and about 70 parents, players and supporters to discuss the situation. Warwick Vets Principal Gerald Habershaw, Tober and Parker were in attendance according to a source who attended the meeting.

The Warwick Beacon attempted to attend the meeting, but Toll Gate Principal Stephen Chrabaszcz turned reporters away and said it “wasn’t a thing for newspapers.”

The result of the meeting, according to multiple sources, was that a Warwick official would meet with the RIIL on Monday to try to postpone the series and launch an investigation into the matter. According to a source close to the situation, Director of Secondary Education for Warwick Public Schools Steven Ruscito met with RIIL officials.

The Rhode Island Interscholastic League answered, and then hung up, on a call made by the newspaper yesterday morning.

The matter of the player’s eligibility went undetected through two playoff series and a full week of preparation leading up to the day of the title series, with Warwick Co-op defeating Mount St. Charles Co-op and East Bay in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively, for a berth in the coveted finals.

Also in question, although it hasn’t been brought up, is senior forward Madison Balutowski’s all-time goal scoring record. If Warwick is forced to forfeit all games played since the Feb. 4 mark, Balutowski may also have to forfeit those goals by extension.

The Beacon will continue its coverage as more information surfaces over the next few days.

UPDATES

In a Rhode Island Principals Committee on Athletics meeting on Monday afternoon with Mezzanotte, a vote was taken that upheld Warwick Co-op's forfeited games.

There were no Warwick school representatives at the meeting, but Superintendent Thornton chose not to fight the league, and supported the RIIL's decision in a phone call.

According to Bill Koch of The Providence Journal, a two-game suspension and $100 fine were also handed down to Lady Titans' head coach David Tibbetts. He will serve that suspension at the start of the 2016-17 season.

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  • JohnStark

    In an otherwise nice story about the girls' hockey team, Warwick's public schools again manage to pluck public embarrassment from the jaws of victory. We've had over six weeks for the player in question, her parents, assistant coach, head coach, assistant principal, or principal to notice two failing grades on her report card, and to say something. Instead, they wait until a week after the season is over for East Bay and it's hockey players, many of whose girls are now onto other spring sports. Then, the same day the issue appears in the Providence Journal, the Beacon's reporters are curiously told it "wasn’t a thing for newspapers.” What, exactly, is it a "thing" for, Mr. Chrabaszcz? Not that a lack of transparency would ever exist in the city. As chaos remains the norm in Warwick's secondary schools, parents understandably continue to avoid them like the plague.

    Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Report this

  • Justanidiot

    Cheaters never prosper.

    Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Report this