Messenger file photo by Chris McCarthy
By Chris McCarthy/Publisher
Coosa Christian’s football season officially came to an end last Saturday in Montgomery.
In a special called meeting, the Alabama High School Athletic Association Central Board of Control heard an appeal from Coosa Christian concerning an eligibility ruling made earlier in the week. The school was found in violation of the Coaching-Outside-the-Season Rule, which resulted in forfeiture of five varsity football games. District 6 upheld the original ruling administered by the AHSAA, and the Central Board of Control upheld the District 6 decision, which fined the school and placed on restrictive probation effective immediately and concluding at the end of the 2025 football championship series (December 5, 2025) for playing an ineligible player in violation of the Coaching Outside School Year Rule.
In addition to restrictive probation, the program had to forfeit all games won that the ineligible student participated in which included victories over Cleveland, Southeastern, Falkville, Susan Moore, and Cold Springs. The final Class 2A Region 6 standings are as follows after being updated to reflect said forfeits:
1. Southeastern: 7-2 overall, 6-0 in region
2. Falkville: 6-3 overall, 5-1 in region
3. Susan Moore: 4-5 overall, 4-2 in region
4. Cold Spring: 5-5 overall, 3-3 in region
5. Cleveland: 3-6 overall, 2-4 in region
6. Coosa Christian: 5-5 overall, 1-5 in region
7. West End: 1-9 overall, 0-6 in region
According to an AHSAA press release, Coosa Christian has been provided specific conditions to meet prior to the 2025 football season and as a result may appear before the AHSAA Central Board of Control at its July Board meeting for possible reinstatement into the 2025 championship season.
The Conquerors’ only on-the-field loss this season was to Pierce County, Ga., in Week 1. Coosa Christian also had to forfeit several games last year, but the Conquerors made the state playoffs as a No. 4 seed and eventually finished the season as the Class 1A state runner-up.
The school issued a press release on Saturday, Nov. 2 in response to the sanctions imposed by the AHSAA. It reads as follows:
“This is Coosa Christian School’s response to the allegations and findings by AHSAA Director Heath Harmon for which we have been placed on written notice.
“As a member institution, we can only abide by the rules and regulations as they are written, giving rules their plain meaning in context. Director Harmon provided our institution with notice of alleged infractions on Tuesday October 29, 2024. In his letter, it was alleged that a Coosa Christian School coach who holds the position of assistant coach on our football coaching staff coached an unnamed student, one of our student athletes in the activity of ‘athletic development and training’ during an unspecified period last spring while the unnamed student was enrolled as a student at Glencoe Middle School, another AHSAA member institution. On or about April 17, 2024, the unnamed 8th grade student transferred schools, moving from Glencoe Middle School to Coosa Christian.
“In the fall of 2024, the unnamed student participated in both varsity and junior varsity football for Coosa Christian School. Pursuant to Director Harmon’s letter, the AHSAA determined that Coosa Christian School coach and the unnamed student violated Rule III Contest, Section 15: Coaching Outside School Year. The rule reads as follows:
‘No administrator, coach or non-faculty coach from a school’s staff may hold organized practice (except during allowable period) or competition for its school or its feeder school students (grades 7- 12) outside the sports season during the school year. Members of a school coaching staff are allowed to coach girls or boys students from his/her school teams during the off-season during the school year within the allowable period as described below. Any coach that coaches a student from another school in practice or competition renders that student or offending coach ineligible at the coach’s school in the sport in which the violation occurred for the next school season.’
“The allegations by Director Harmon identifies the activity being coached by the coach, as ‘athletic development and training’ which is neither an activity nor a sport under the supervision of the Alabama High School Athletic Association. The AHSAA has no oversight whatsoever of such activities because it is not an identifiable sport, nor does it have an identifiable season. Nowhere in the 114 pages of the AHSAA Handbook does the phrase ‘athletic development and training’ appear. There can only be a violation of Rule III – Section 15 if the ‘organized practice’ is outside the sport’s season. Thus, there can be no season if there is no identifiable sport.
“Furthermore, if the AHSAA’s position is that section two of the rule was violated, that portion of the rule dealing with a coach that coaches a student from another school in practice or competition, the student is only ineligible at the coach’s school in the sport in which the violation occurred. Clearly, ‘athletic development and training’ is not football. Therefore, even if the allegations made by Director Harmon were true, the only ineligibility for the unnamed student would be in the activity of ‘athletic development and training.’ Which, as previously mentioned, is not a sport or activity under the AHSAA Handbook.
“Our institution’s position is that whatever activities that took place between the Coosa Christian School coach and the unnamed student transpired outside the scope of his employment with Coosa Christian. The Coosa Christian School coach has formed a LLC for which he teaches a number of disciplines associated with strength training, flexibility and agility. Coosa Christian leases part of its facilities to the Coosa Christian School coach’s business entity for that purpose. Nothing in the AHSAA Handbook forbids such an arrangement.
“Our school is bound to follow the rules and regulations of the AHSAA Handbook. However, it can only follow those rules as they are written given their plain meaning in context. Under rules of judicial interpretation, any ambiguity in a rule is to be construed against the entity who drafts said rule. In the forgoing matter, the Coosa Christian School coach’s activities with the unnamed student were not activities identified by the AHSAA for which it had oversight. The plain language of the rule makes perfect sense. For example, if the Coosa Christian School coach had been providing golf lessons to the unnamed student out of season while the unnamed student was enrolled at Glencoe Middle School, he would not be eligible to play on the golf team at Coosa Christian, but it would not preclude him from playing football. Or, as some athletes do, say the unnamed student was taking ballet from the Coosa Christian School coach for flexibility and body control, coaching in that discipline would not deem the unnamed student ineligible to play football.
“We at Coosa Christian School respectfully requested the AHSAA apply the rule as it is written given its plain meaning and reach the only just conclusion that can be made and determine that the Coosa Christian School coach did not violate Rule III – Section 15 of the AHSAA Handbook as alleged in the written notice of infractions, simply because ‘athletic training and development’ is not an activity or sport identified in the AHSAA Handbook for which this organization has oversight. This request was denied at the Central Board appeals meeting on Saturday, Nov. 2 in Montgomery.”
