The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) board of directors voted unanimously to ban all Bishop Fenwick athletic teams and athletes from postseason tournament play for the 2023-24 school year.
In a statement posted on Twitter at 4:45 p.m. Friday, the MIAA said it has determined that Fenwick is in violation of MIAA Rule 87.6, which the statement said “requires accountability on the part of its members.”
The MIAA declined to cite specific details about the rules infraction, one entitled “Student Eligibility Waiver – The Process” that governs waivers for students who transfer and member accountability.
“I’m surprised. I guess there is behind-the-scenes stuff that no one was aware of,” softball coach Brian Seabury said. “I didn’t see it coming from a mile away.”
The MIAA has authority to “set aside the effect of any eligibility rule upon an individual student if (1) the rule works an undue hardship on the student; (2) granting the waiver will not result in an unfair competitive advantage; (3) the waiver addresses how this waiver will impact the home school student body; and (4) the waiver would not be in conflict with the general wellbeing of MIAA interscholastic athletic objectives.”
After two separate Eligibility Appeals Board hearings, held on November 22 and March 8, Fenwick representatives were required to attend a hearing with the MIAA board of directors on May 17.
The board found that “Bishop Fenwick’s failure to comply with MIAA’s rules, and its pattern of conduct was sufficiently serious, egregious and repeated to warrant imposition of the discipline outlined in Rule 87.6.4.”
“It’s hurting kids. That’s the only thing that it’s doing,” said former boys hockey coach Jim Quinlan, who retired in March. “That’s all the MIAA is doing is punishing every kid… boy and girl, and that’s not right.”
Quinlan added that he doesn’t think every sport should be responsible.
“I don’t think it should be all sports. I think it should be for whichever sport it was,” Quinlan said. “If they’re going to make an example out of something, it should be the sport that they caught them with, not every sport.”
Seabury said state tournaments are the best part of all three athletic seasons.
“Obviously, the kids look forward to the state tournaments in all sports, so that’s disappointing because those are the best times of the year,” Seabury said. “The state tournaments are what everyone tries to get to and it’s just an exciting time.”
Other sanctions that the MIAA could have imposed upon determination of a violation include suspension of school personnel from attendance at MIAA tournaments (87.6.4.1), team suspensions (87.6.4.1) and fines (87.6.4.3).
