No decision after UIL emergency hearing on alleged targeting of official
Posted: Sep 09, 2015 12:17 PM CDTUpdated: Sep 09, 2015 12:17 PM CDT
ROUND ROCK (KVUE) - Officials from the Northside ISD, the Texas Association of Sports Officials, and others met Wednesday at an emergency hearing before the University Interscholastic League to address the possible targeting of a football official by two John Jay High School players.
No decision on any possible punishment was made Wednesday as the session was more for the various parties involved to report where they are in their investigation into the incident from last Friday’s game between John Jay High and Marble Falls High School.
In the incident, the umpire in the game was run over by a John Jay High player who appeared to target the official with the hit. A second player from John Jay High then led with his helmet and appeared to dive at the official who was on the ground.
Video of the incident has gone viral since the game. The umpire, who is from Austin, is “wanting to press charges” over the hit, according Wednesday, NISD superintendent Brian Woods told the UIL executive committee that he and his staff have been investigating the incident since Friday night and that the entire event “is shameful to us.”
“We do not believe that the actions of these young men reflect the young people who are in our schools and our athletic programs,” Woods told the committee Wednesday.
The committee heard Woods say that the incident was being treated as “an assault on a school official” when it comes to the investigation. Both students have been suspended from the football team and the school pending a disciplinary hearing that will come at a later date.
However, Woods also emphasized that there are more aspects to the incident than just the hit in the video that has gone viral online. Specifically, Woods discussed the allegations that an assistant coach, identified as Mack Breed by KVUE sister stations KENS5 in San Antonio, may have said that the umpired needed to pay for bad calls in the game and allegations that the umpire may have used racial slurs against players.
The head coach of the John Jay team, Gary Gutierrez, has already been cleared by the district of any involvement in the incident, according to KENS5.
Woods told the Committee that the assistant coach in question has also been put on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation into the incident.
When it comes to the official in question, identified by KVUE news partners the Austin American-Statesman as Robert Watts, the executive committee was told by the TASO Wednesday that he was not a regular member of the crew and instead a fill-in for the game between John Jay High and Marble Falls.
The game featured multiple objections and had at least one member of the executive committee asking school officials if the game was under control of the officials or coaches on Friday. A total of four players were ejected from the game that saw controversy all the way to the final play when Marble Falls kneeled down.
“We will be interviewing every coach on that staff to ensure that institutional control is not an issue,” Woods said.
According to testimony at the executive committee hearing Wednesday, TASO said it’s the normal protocol to speak to the players and coaches if a game is getting out of hand. TASO said it’s officials will either speak to a team captain or get communication to the sideline that a player may need to come out of the game for a play or two to cool off.
The TASO told the committee it has asked the crew members at the game to provide the organization with “a report on the incident, but start from the coin toss through the moment they walked off the field including any player interaction, coaching interaction, player on player interaction they overheard” and more. The TASO said the officials are working on that report to be submitted.
In addition, the TASO said that a director with its organization is analyzing the game film and making notes on any plays that may have been called for penalties and any that may have been missed. That report is expected to be completed and given to the TASO as early as Wednesday.
Marble Falls police said Monday it is also conducting an investigation of the incident. Marble Falls said they will hold a press conference about the incident on Thursday morning.
The UIL state executive committee can publicly reprimand or suspend a student athlete, but has more options to deal with participating schools. It can choose to impose a reprimand, public reprimand, forfeiture of contest, disqualify teams from district honors up to three years, or a mandatory disqualification.to ESPN.com.
