Thornton tells Warwick Co-op players, parents that “the entire system failed” them

By Matt Metcalf
Posted 3/29/16

Warwick Public Schools Superintendent Philip Thornton met with Warwick Co-op players and their parents during a meeting held at Toll Gate High School on Thursday.

During the meeting, he and the …

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Thornton tells Warwick Co-op players, parents that “the entire system failed” them

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Warwick Public Schools Superintendent Philip Thornton met with Warwick Co-op players and their parents during a meeting held at Toll Gate High School on Thursday.

During the meeting, he and the Warwick school system took the blame for the Lady Titans getting disqualified from the girls’ hockey state title series – a series the team was kept out of for using an ineligible player.

The matter went undetected until the day of the series, when Toll Gate self-reported the violation.

Although players and parents were hoping for some sort of appeal of the RIIL’s decision to disqualify Warwick Co-op, Thornton noted that there was nothing they could do after reporting the situation.

“If we know of something, we have to report it,” Thornton said. “Once you report it, there’s no appealing it, according to the RIIL’s Rule 6. That is the standard, there’s no wiggle room. Once we admit fault, there’s no hearing to be had.”

Overall, Thornton wanted the girls to know that they did nothing wrong in the matter and it was the Warwick school system that failed them.

“You guys did everything right,” Thornton said. “The whole system failed you guys. It all has to do with the adults failing you. I own this. I have to fix it.”

In the future, Thornton is hoping to prevent this from ever happening again with a “checks and balances system,” in which each report card will get signed by multiple sources to assure each player meets eligibility requirements.

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  • Justanidiot

    Next time don't cheat.

    Thursday, March 31, 2016 Report this