Letting Alumni Practice With Your Team

Read these two articles about Watertown HS letting alumni practice with school sports teams.

WHS on probation after state violation

By JAMIE MUNKS

TIMES STAFF WRITER

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 2010

The Watertown City School District athletic department has been placed on probation by the Frontier League for violating a state rule that prohibits alumni from practicing with school sports teams.
After reading a Dec. 1 Times story about a scrimmage between the Watertown High School boys basketball team and a group of alumni, someone from another school district sent e-mails to Frontier League officials about Watertown’s violation of the state rule, District Superintendent Terry Fralick said at Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting.
Fralick declined to say which district the person was from.
Board members voiced their anger that someone contacted the Frontier League to notify them of the Watertown violation.

“That just stinks and shame on whoever did that,” board member Cynthia Bufalini said.
Fralick said the rule has “been on the books for years, but isn’t enforced all the time.” Fralick is a member of the Frontier League executive committee, and he has told the other committee members that the district apologizes for the violation and that it won’t happen again.
Being on probation in the Frontier League means that Watertown High School has been identified as a school that broke a state rule. If another state rule is broken, the league would take disciplinary action on the team that could include forced game forfeits.
“With all of the things that are wrong in the world, we’re being penalized for this?” board member Yvonne Gebo said. “As an educator, one of the best things you can see is when kids leave this building and they want to come back to see their coaches.”
 

Violation of rule seldom reported

ALUMNI AT PRACTICE: Frontier League teams may have broken law

By JAMIE MUNKS

TIMES STAFF WRITER

TUESDAY, JANUARY 12, 2010

The state law that Watertown High School violated when it allowed alumni to practice with its high school boys basketball team, may be violated much more often than it’s reported, Frontier League and state athletic officials said.
Watertown High School’s athletic department was recently put on probation by the Frontier League for violating the state rule when a group of alumni played against the boys basketball team in a scrimmage. The rule prohibits graduated athletes from practicing with their former team.
“If you’re not an approved player, you’re not eligible to practice with the team,” Frontier League Executive Director Robert Kowalick said.
This violation isn’t one that is often reported to the Frontier League, Kowalick said.
“I think it’s the first violation we’ve given out for this,” Kowalick said. “But this has probably gone on. I think it’s been pretty common for kids to come home from college and want to practice with their old team.”
And while the violation may occur frequently, the executive committee doesn’t look into violations until it receives a letter.
“We’re not going to go chasing people around. A lot of people will complain to us about someone doing something wrong, but it’s an anonymous letter or a phone call,” Kowalick said. “If you’re going to complain about something, it’s got to be in writing.”
Kowalick said he sent a reminder about the rule to all Frontier League school districts on Dec. 1, the same day the story about a scrimmage between the Watertown High School boys basketball team playing against a group of alumni ran in the Times.
“It’s unfortunate that this incident happened,” Kowalick said. “When we get something in writing we have to look into it, and Watertown knows that..”
The basis of the rule is for liability purposes, and it has been on the books “forever,” said Nina Van Erk, executive director of the New York Public High School Athletic Association.
The state Education Commissioner’s regulations state that schools should “limit athletic activities conducted by the school to appropriate competition and practice between pupils in grades seven through 12, except that a post-graduate pupil may participate in intramural activities.”
“We’re required by the state to only provide athletic opportunities between students because high school athletics are an extension of the classroom,” Van Erk said. “Many schools have ignored this over time. But now we do mandatory athletic director workshops and there’s no excuse, everyone knows the rule.”