Eligibility Impacts Football Playoff Bid

Eligibility Impacts Football Playoff Bid

Football fans were dismayed to learn that six players were ineligible for the Nov. 9 first-round playoff game against Gilmour Academy, the first Bison playoff game in over 20 years.

“[I was] shocked and disappointed,” Coach Mike Gibbons said. “It was hard to find out that way.”

“It had an impact on the game,” he said. “We were missing a lot of key starters.”

Gibbons believed there was miscommunication between staff, parents, students and coaches at the end of the grading period.

“I think knowing the rules helps out,” he said. “We didn’t know if it was quarter or semester grade check. That’s definitely the number one thing … It was quarter grade checks.”

Coach Gibbons also believes that miscommunication was not the only issue. “The players needed to do more. They should have been checking their grades,” he said.

“Two years ago, Beachwood’s eligibility policy was the OHSAA state minimum, which means students must pass a minimum of five one-credit courses. Some students could have three Fs and they were still eligible to participate in athletic events, which is embarrassing,” Athletic Director Ryan Peters said.

The Beachwood Board of Education raised the standards for eligibility so that student athletes must have a GPA above a 2.0 each quarter. Also, a student may not participate with an F on his or her report card at the end of the grading period. If students become ineligible and still meet the state standards, they are given four weeks to regain their eligibility.

This change was put into effect in the 2012-13 school year. In the first year, the new policy went well.

“At this time of the year last year, there were only about three kids who weren’t eligible,” Peters said.

This year, Peters said there were approximately 13 students who were ineligible.

Peters said he feels it is difficult at first for freshmen and students who are new to Beachwood to adjust to the workload.

“Students [who] come from other school districts… struggle with our academic rigors when they first arrive here,” he said.

Some athletes feel that higher eligibility standards are reasonable.

“I believe it is harder to fail than not fail in Beachwood,” said senior wrestler Ryan Harris.

“I was disappointed by all the kids who were ineligible,” Peters said. “All of these kids worked their tails off [on the field], and the worst part of my job is telling them they can’t participate.”

“I was surprised about how many kids are ineligible, but it’s their own fault,” Harris said. “If they don’t care, they should expect to be ineligible.”

Harris also approves of the district’s decision to raise eligibility requirements.

“It makes kids concentrate more on school,” he said.

Peters also pointed out that the school has services in place for students that want to bring up their grades.

“Our teachers are fantastic about going the extra mile for our students who struggle… Kids need to go to academy,” he said.

“There is some apathy with this generation,” Peters said. “You can’t be a state championship team without great grades.”

One of the players who was ineligible for the Gilmour game told The Beachcomber that he feels the standards do more to help the school than the players.

“It is supposed to motivate the student athletes to do better, but I think that if you don’t care, you just won’t do your work,” he said.

With so many players ineligible, some feel that more interventions should be put in place.

“We were doing everything we could with study tables and doing grade checks,” Gibbons said.

Preparing for next season, Gibbons has implemented a new policy to encourage players to bring up their grades. The team is divided into teams competing against one another for biggest improvement in grades.

“We put a point system in place,” he said. “Each team gets a point if everyone shows up to lifting. They also get points if nobody has Ds or Fs, and same thing with attending other school events like girls’ basketball games or plays. We will also try to stay in better contact with parents.”