Collier coaches offer up sympathy

The Florida High School Athletic Association may have shown little sympathy for coach John Weber and those left in an Immokalee football program that’s been relegated to super-spoiler for a postseason-barred 2006.

Weber’s peers are a different matter.

“Coach Weber’s a great man with a great program, and I feel for him and his kids,” Lely coach Chris Metzger said. “He’s got some great kids, and this is just an eye-opener about where we’re going as a country. We’re the land of the free, and we’ve got to make sure we’ve got the right kids in our schools.”

On Wednesday, the FHSAA stripped Weber’s Indians of their 2005 Class 3A-District 14 title and wiped out four wins, all games in which 30-year-old Blandel Jean was used as a placekicker, off a 10-2 season that ended in the regional semifinals.

They’re ineligible for the postseason this fall, and will have no spring game in 2007.

Weber, who has declined comment on the ruling this week, said previously that most coaches take for granted that players who show up on their practice fields are legitimate. Typically, athletic directors are responsible for verifying birth certificates.

“They’re more a victim than anything,” St. John Neumann coach Steve Howey said. “I like Coach Weber. I think he’s a class act. He does a great job with his kids and anybody who talks to him can tell he loves his kids. I feel bad for him and the program.”

Golden Gate coach Dave Tanner, who has twice crossed paths with the FHSAA for recruiting violations, said he wasn’t necessarily surprised by the rulings, but that the issue of verifying a player’s age isn’t as black-and-white as most would argue.

“People pass phony $20 bills all the time, and the normal guy can’t detect it,” said Tanner, who like Weber relocated to Florida from the Midwest. “You have to run it through a scanner to find if it’s a counterfeit 20 or a real 20, and to deal with high school kids is basically the same thing.

“It’s hard to determine whether this birth certificate is a legitimate one or not. Then by law you can’t ask them, because now you’re breaking some government law. So it’s very difficult for people in states like Florida, California, Texas, etc. People in Wisconsin and Indiana have no clue.”

Gulf Coast coach Frank Tudryn said he understood the sanctions for the 25-2 soccer team, which used five ineligible players including 21-year-old leading scorer Clotaire Joseph, but that he felt as though Weber’s program was being unjustly punished because Jean was a backup kicker who participated in only five games. Jean kicked in regular-season victories over Golden Gate and Palmetto Ridge, and in three playoff games: wins over LaBelle and Miami-Belen Jesuit and the season-ending loss to Belle Glade-Glades Central.

“I find a hard time understanding the football part because of the impact the player had,” he said. “Let’s face it, (Weber) didn’t know. He assumed they were all eligible because they were all checked ... The administration signs off on eligibility.”

Said Barron Collier’s Bill Sparacio: “I believe Coach Weber wouldn’t play with anybody he knew was older. The John Weber I know wouldn’t do that. I feel bad for him and his program, but knowing Coach Weber, I’m sure they’re going to have a great season again.”