SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah High School Activities Association has suspended a high school football coach for allowing an ineligible player to compete in the state tournament playoffs.
The UHSAA said Wednesday it suspended Skyridge High School’s head coach, Justin Hemm, for two games and fined the school $3,000 for the infraction.
In a statement, the school said its athletic department made a “clerical error” in calculating the GPA of a student-athlete.
As a result of that error, the ineligible player took the field in last week’s playoff game where Skyridge beat Pleasant Grove in overtime.
The school said the coach and the player didn’t know the student-athlete wasn’t eligible at the time. Still, the school added that it takes responsibility for the mistake and that it’s working to institute changes to ensure something similar doesn’t happen again.
Skyridge is slated to play against American Fork in the 6A finals Friday morning.
“The athlete was mistakenly cleared to participate,” the school’s statement said. “When the error was discovered, the school immediately reported the violation to Region III Leadership and the UHSAA.”
The school added that it takes responsibility for the mistake, noting the administration is making changes to prevent similar happenings in the future.
