Chaparral DQ’d for ineligible players

Adam Candee

Friday, Feb. 13, 2004 | 9:53 a.m.

Hope marked the Chaparral girls' basketball team's 2003-04 season, with a talented young roster and a playoff berth to show for a decent year.

That hope shattered Thursday when the Clark County School District disqualified the Cowboys from the playoffs for using two ineligible players throughout their conference season. The school determined that two Chaparral players who played in almost all of the team's games were living outside of the attendance zone during the season.

The team forfeited all games in which the two players participated and coach Jerry Swanson was suspended by the school, even before he chose to step down over a situation that he is still trying to understand.

"I'm shocked, a little outraged, and I resigned," Swanson said, saying that he thought all of his players were living in eligible locations. "I guess it's the coach's fault to a certain extent because they're supposed to know what's going on."

Underscoring the strange situation, Swanson said he is only certain of one of the two players involved. But while he did not know exactly who the second player was, Swanson said he believed it was people associated with Rancho -- which will now gets the fourth and final playoff berth from the Northeast Division instead of the Cowboys -- who initiated the process, although he emphasized that Chaparral was ultimately to blame.

"Apparently, Rancho started it a couple of weeks ago," Swanson said.

Rancho coach Todd Herrick could not be reached for comment, but Swanson said that people loyal to the Rams became aware that one of Chaparral's players had moved into another school's zone after registering at Chaparral. Swanson said that the primary player involved was a bench player and he denied that the situation had anything to do with star freshman forward Precious Robinson.

Chaparral officially finished 1-9 in division play after forfeiting four victories, allowing Rancho (2-8) to claim the final spot. The school investigation went on for about two weeks. CCSD athletics director Bill Garis said that Chaparral administrators submitted their findings to the district office after determining that ineligible players participated.

Garis said in such investigations, it is common for a school to conduct a home visit to a student's registered address, as well as to do multiple interviews to verify residence in a zone. Students must be able to provide proof of residence within a zone when they register at a school. It is ultimately each school's responsibility to make sure that a student is eligible to attend and to compete in athletics.

"It is a common point of discussion among school people," said Garis, a former Sierra Vista principal. "It has been a common discussion for years that this goes on."

Garis said that many potential zome violation situations are brought to his attention, and that many of them surface when the playoffs are just about to start.

"This is the time we usually get wind of these things," Garis said.

The investigation into the violations is ongoing, Garis said. Swanson said that all of his players were given practice permits at the beginning of the season and that none of them were recruited to play at Chaparral. He also did not first know of the investigation until well after it was begun, but it has taken its toll on him now.

"The last two weeks have just been pure hell," Swanson said.