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Brooksville School Fined $10,400 For Gridiron Brawl

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By BAIRD HELGESON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 19, 2008

The Florida High School Athletic Association forced a high school football team from Brooksville to forfeit a playoff game slated for Friday and fined the school $10,400 for a bench-clearing brawl this month.

The fine is among the stiffest ever levied for unsportsmanlike conduct by the statewide athletics association, which investigated the incident and issued its ruling today. As part of the fine, 48 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties were doled out to the team from Nature Coast Technical High School.

A letter sent today to Nature Coast Principal Tizzy Schoelles indicates the school, whose teams are the Sharks, was involved in a similar incident in 2007 and had not taken steps to deter unsportsmanlike conduct.

The athletics association levied a fine of $8,500 against the other school involved in the incident, Groveland's South Lake High. The athletics association gave the team 42 unsportsmanlike conduct penalties.

Both programs are on administrative probation until June 2010. Further infractions could result in an extension of probation, forfeiture of games and possibly expulsion from the athletics association.

The association suspended both teams for the rest of the season, which means Nature Coast's next competitor, Williston, automatically advances to the Class 3A region semifinal.

Football players and coaches from both schools must complete a sportsmanship education program to participate in the 2009 State Series, the letter states.

Principals from Nature Coast and South Lake could not immediately be reached for comment.

The penalties stem from a bench-clearing brawl toward the end of a game Nov. 7. Officials ended the game with nearly four minutes on the clock after the fighting erupted.

Denarvise Thornton, the association's associate executive director, said the number of players involved and the severity of the incident led to the stiff fines and penalties.

Thornton said some parents and students have unfairly painted the association as too tough on Nature Coast and South Lake.

He doesn't think so. The penalties teach students a life lesson about the consequences of bad behavior, Thornton said.

"We are trying to educate the students through athletic participation," he said. "We are trying to help them make the right choices."

Both schools could reduce their fines by participating in the sportsmanship classes and taking additional steps to reign in unsportsmanlike conduct, the letter states.

Reporter Baird Helgeson can be reached at (813) 259-7668 or bhelgeson@tampatrib.com.

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