DeSapio explains Metro Sanctions

Antonio DeSapio, President o Bishop Blanchet High School
June 22, 2015

To the Bishop Blanchet Community of Faculty, Staff, and Families:Football-v-Bainbridge-2

I write today to update you on the outcome of our process with the Metro Athletic League considering our self-reported violations of WIAA Rule 27 in the Bishop Blanchet Girls’ Basketball and Boys’ Football programs.

On Thursday, June 18, the Metro League reviewed the self-report and considered proposed remedies and sanctions for Bishop Blanchet. As a result of this process, the Metro League passed the following motions:

“Blanchet is commended for self-reporting to the MAEC on recruiting violations, and for putting processes and procedures in place to avoid similar situations in the future.  Furthermore, the MAEC concurs that violations occurred in girls’ basketball and boys’ football programs as reported by Blanchet, and acknowledges that the proposed sanctions from Blanchet are appropriate. The following sanctions are imposed:

  • The school is placed on probation for a period of two years.  If, during the probationary period, the school incurs a further violation of similar nature, the school will jeopardize its membership in the Metro League.
  • The school will forfeit the two past seasons in girls’ basketball (2013-2014 and 2014-2015), including the loss of second and third place trophies.
  • The school will forfeit the past one season in boys’ football (2014-2015).”

Bishop Blanchet High School has committed to the following remedies to ensure full compliance with WIAA rules and Metro League guidelines:

  1. The formation of a Compliance Committee comprised of BBHS leadership to oversee full compliance and to review any irregularities.
  2. Updated policies and procedures for the Offices of Development, Finance, and Admissions and training to provide additional levels of safeguard to ensure full compliance with WIAA rules and Metro guidelines.
  3. Suspension of BBHS affiliation with youth feeder programs in girls and boys basketball and football for the 2015-2016 school year. While the youth on these teams can continue participation in these activities, BBHS will not be affiliated with the programs pending a review over the 2015-2016 school year.
  4. The Head Football Coach and Director of Football Operations are no longer associated in any formal or informal capacity with the football program.  Employment action regarding the Head Football coach is currently under review by the Archdiocese of Seattle Human Resource Office.
  5. No one associated with the Bishop Blanchet Basketball program, including all program parents, will be allowed to coach in any fall or spring off-season league.
  6. On-going training for BBHS employees and school parents on WIAA rules and Metro League guidelines.
  7. Bishop Blanchet High School has requested an independent review of this investigation through the WIAA.
It has been abundantly clear to me over these past weeks and months, that our entire Bishop Blanchet community of students, athletes, families, faculty, staff, administration and coaches has felt a sense of pain and loss through this process of discovering and addressing these violations. Throughout this process, our focus has been on maintaining the integrity of the school and adherence to WIAA and Metro League policies, all while ensuring that our student athletes can continue to compete positively in athletics, fostering their personal development as part of the overall student formation experience. In this circumstance, WIAA policies that were put into place to assure equitable participation in athletics were not followed. The consequences for the school and our athletic programs are obviously significant, but I firmly believe that absent our self-report, the negative impact on our institution may have been more severe if we had not taken action in full cooperation with our peer schools in the Metro League.
The challenges that our community has faced underscore the need for our programs always to be run with the utmost integrity and in full compliance with the rules. As a Catholic school, it is core to our mission that we show community leadership in this regard by acknowledging failures when they occur and accepting the consequences, painful as they may be. It is not enough to acknowledge our faults; we must accept the consequence and make amends. To that end, I am committed to ensuring our compliance and transparency as an institution. As such, I have invited an independent review of this investigation, our programs, and systems by the WIAA. I welcome your outreach to discuss this situation further.
As we look to the future, we will continue to make a priority of providing positive and formative athletic experiences for our students. Together with academics, arts, activities, and faith formation, athletics are an important aspect of each child’s full development at Bishop Blanchet. I am grateful for our community of student athletes, parents, and coaches who will lead us forward from this moment toward further celebration of Bishop Blanchet’s athletic tradition.