What was a magical 2014 football season for the Bel Air Bobcats might lose its luster as the team faces possible state sanctions for using an ineligible player.
Other than admitting the violation(s) occurred, Harford County Public Schools officials offered little information about the situation.
"School officials discovered that one Bel Air High school football player may have violated the residency rule," Jillian V. Lader, manager of communications for Harford County Public Schools, wrote in an email Monday evening. "They contacted the appropriate HCPS personnel to investigate and it was determined that a violation did occur. At that point, the information was given to the Supervisor of High School Athletics and Physical Education who reported it to the MPSSAA."
The MPSSAA, Maryland Public Secondary Schools Athletics Association, is the governing body for sports at public high schools in the state.
An official at MPSSAA headquarters in Baltimore was unaware of the violation and directed inquiries Tuesday afternoon to Edward F. "Ned" Sparks, the long-time head of the MPSSAA. Sparks was at a national high school athletic directors conference in Washington, D.C., and wasn't readily available to comment.
Harford County requires athletes show proof of residency, a practice previously adopted by parks and recreation groups and Little League Baseball and Softball, before they may participate in a high school sport. In many cases, use of an ineligible player results in the forfeiture of any games the team won while an ineligible player was on the team. Other than "violated the residency rule," any other information about where the ineligible player lives, how he was approved to play and then to have been discovered to be a ineligible is unclear.
Social media was abuzz the past few days with chatter about the violation(s) and what it might mean for Bel Air.
Bel Air went 10-2 on the season, falling once during the regular season to Aberdeen and once in the playoffs in a season-ending loss to state finalist Franklin. Aberdeen beat visiting Bel Air, 23-21, on Oct. 16. About a month later, on Nov. 14, Bel Air went back to Aberdeen and walloped the Eagles, 28-0, in the first round of the state playoffs. A week later, Bel Air lost at Franklin, 28-14.