Battle against rule-breaking rolls on

Lennard High senior football player David Sanders understands the difference between right and wrong.

So when he hears stories of local high school athletes and coaches being punished for bending the rules to gain an advantage, he has no sympathy.

Lennard has failed to make the playoffs during Sanders' three years on varsity. Still, the linebacker, who was among the top tacklers in Hillsborough County last season and who could become the school's first major football recruit, takes pride knowing he never broke the rules for the sake of winning or being on a winning team.

"They knew what they were doing," he said. "It's (having) integrity. You should do the right thing, even if people aren't looking."

A few cases in the Bay area show that the temptation to have an edge is to hard to pass up.

• In June, the Wiregrass Ranch athletic program was fined $12,525 by the Florida High School Athletic Association and had its girls basketball program placed on two years administrative probation for violations stemming from the illegal recruiting of a player. The FHSAA determined the program had violated 10 different policies and bylaws, and that former coach Greg Finkel provided false information during the investigative process. Finkel resigned after the penalties were announced, and the FHSAA has reduced the fine to $6,275.

• Also in June, the Hillsborough High football program came under investigation by the FHSAA for recruiting violations. The school has appealed the allegations.

• In May, the Plant baseball team was forced to forfeit 26 games and its 2011 district title for use of an ineligible player. In Plant's investigation, the student's parents provided bill statements to verify that the student lived within Plant's boundary, but it was later revealed that the student's parents lived in separate residences and he did not live primarily in the one slated for Plant.

• In January, the East Lake volleyball program, which won the Class 5A state championship in November, was fined $11,250 by the FHSAA for several acts of athletes receiving improper benefits from former coach Terry Small over a span of three years, also during which time a number of athletes were ruled ineligible for being illegally recruited to the program by Small. The FHSAA determined Small lied to investigators, and the program was forced to forfeit any games in which ineligible athletes participated. Small resigned after the 2010 season.

FHSAA spokesperson Seth Polansky said fines are to be paid 30 days after schools receive a letter of sanction, but in instances of larger fines, the school can ask for a payment plan.

However, if fines are not paid on time, the school is suspended from FHSAA competition until the situation is rectified.

"It comes down to some coaches with egos who want to stay on top," said David Mitchell, Wharton's football, wrestling and track and field coach. "My philosophy is, you coach with what you got in your school. You get more satisfaction.

"Some of these players know what's going on, so what are you teaching them about life? Cheat to be the best?"

FHSAA executive director Roger Dearing said he doesn't believe misconduct in Florida high school sports is a growing problem, but that policing it has grown more difficult. The FHSAA employs 12 investigators — many with backgrounds in law enforcement — who work strictly with compliance and eligibility laws.

"Society is very mobile now," Dearing said. "Kids can go and print their own lease agreements and falsify documents and print their own birth certificates."

In 2008, former Armwood running back Sirchauncey Holloway, who at the time was a rising senior who transferred from Plant City, was declared ineligible for one year by the FHSAA. An investigation revealed he falsified his living address to gain admittance into two-time state champion Armwood as a move-in transfer.

"It's amazing to me what some families are willing to subject their children to to play for a winning program," Dearing said.

Elliot Hopkins has worked in the Educational Services Department for the National Federation of State High School Association for 13 years. Prior to that, he spent six years as assistant executive director of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association.

Hopkins recalled hearing horror stories about football players from Louisiana who were advertised or "shopped around" to programs around the country after Hurricane Katrina.

"Everybody wants an edge right now, and that's the problem," Hopkins said. "People place so much importance on getting scholarships."

Hopkins said misconduct at the high school sports level will ultimately have a negative effect on society.

"It will raise a culture who thinks cheating is the standard and the norm," he said.

Hillsborough County athletic director Lanness Robinson organizes monthly meetings with the county athletic directors to reiterate FHSAA bylaws in an attempt to prevent violations.

"There are about 200 pages in the FHSAA rulebook," Robinson said. "You have to follow it to the letter. Some rule violations are not intentional and then there are some (instances) when people know the rules and do it anyway.

"In a competitive situation, you tend to find people trying to get away with stuff. They justify it in their minds."

Robinson said it is the school administration's responsibility to keep rule-breaking out of athletic programs.

"It's administrative oversight," he said. "The coach answers to somebody. That somebody should have fixed it. It says in the (FHSAA) handbook it is the responsibly of the school administration that FHSAA rules are being followed correctly.

"We address those issues. We can stop them from continuing."

Pasco County athletic director Phil Bell has led investigations into the Gulf and Zephyrhills football programs for recruiting violations, which led to the dismissal of both head coaches.

In the end, he said the best way to stop rule-breaking is to educate parents, coaches and student-athletes about the consequences of their actions.

"I'm not naive enough to think these situations don't occur and that parents won't find loopholes," Bell said.

"But it's important to let folks know that we have a responsibility to look into the situations that are brought to our attention so that a student-athlete's eligibility isn't compromised and a school isn't put into an unenviable situation."