Saline’s Forfeiture of 3 Games of the Varsity Football Season Will Stand

Saline Area Schools appeal to the MHSAA asking it to overturn the forfeited games has been denied.

At the direction of the Saline Board of Education, SAS Superintendent Stephen Laatsch submitted an appeal to the Michigan High School Athletic Association on Oct. 9. The Sun Times News asked the school district on Oct. 17 if there was an update.

Jackelyn Martin, SAS Executive Director of Communications and Community Relations, told STN:

“At the direction of the Saline Area Schools Board of Education, Superintendent Laatsch submitted an appeal to MHSAA last week related to the three-game forfeitures of the Varsity Football team. MHSAA reviewed the appeal and determined the penalties, including the forfeiture of the first three games of the season, will stand without modification.”

It was on Oct. 1 when this situation came into focus after Laatsch sent out a message to varsity football families stating, “When residency concerns that potentially impacted athletic eligibility were brought to the attention of Athletic Director Mantha and me, we investigated, and in the interest of honesty and integrity, self-reported those concerns to the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA).”

He said then that “Failure to establish residency pursuant to MHSAA guidelines and residency fraud are serious infractions. As a result of these infractions, our Saline HS Varsity Football team will unfortunately be forfeiting the first three games of the 2024 varsity football season.”

Since then the school district said it has “held extensive discussions to revise our internal processes to prevent similar situations in the future. Greater safeguards with our Enrollment Office, Athletic Department, and compliance officer will help ensure this never happens again.” 

STN connected with Geoff Kimmerly, Director of Communications for the Michigan High School Athletic Association, by email to ask about the Saline situation.

Kimmerly explained, “The school appealed the penalty for use of an ineligible player who had not made a full and complete move into the school district and was not eligible based on any of the allowed exceptions to the transfer rule. The school also asked for a special meeting of our Executive Committee to discuss it further.”

Kimmerly said, “Per our due process, stated in our Handbook and adopted by every school district annually that chooses to be part of the MHSAA, the appeal was considered by our executive director, who found that this was a clear and obvious violation, and that the school admitted as much in its self-report. The penalty for this type of eligibility violation has always been forfeiture — in this case, the three losses in the three games in which this student played.”

“As for the request for a special meeting – the only times our board has come together outside of its scheduled meetings in recent memory has been to make decisions during the pandemic that affected the seasons and safety of the entire state,” Kimmerly said. “The Executive Committee has met four times since the start of the football season, so there were ample opportunities to have this conversation at that level – although the district was asking for reconsideration on something it admitted and again, was in clear violation of our eligibility rule.”

Over the past two weeks, members of the football team as well as community members have gone before the school board asking the district to appeal the decision. As of Oct. 17, Saline Varsity Football’s record stands at 4 wins and 3 losses.

photo: Isaac Furlong speaks at the Oct. 8 Saline school board meeting. photo courtesy of Saline Area Schools