Jeff Lytle: School leaders clarify (?) over-age issue at conference

You had to look hard and listen carefully for accountability at a well-attended Friday press conference for Immokalee High School Principal Manny Touron to make his public contrition for over-age athletes proliferating at his school on his watch.

Actually his double watch, because he helps coach soccer, the sport attracting most of the violations at IHS for having participants as old as 30. This past season's county and district championship team had no fewer than five ineligible players over the age of 19 years, 9 months.

Hardly World Cup-caliber sportsmanship and integrity.

On Friday, Touron wasn't all that contrite and underestimated the gravity. He just wanted all the bad stuff to stop.

The press conference came at the end of a week that started with Collier County School District publicists insisting that a requested visit to Immokalee by a group of Daily News print and electronic journalists — a kind of press conference — to talk to Touron would be too much all at once. Yet, even a 30-minute "One on One" TV interview was ruled out.

On Friday, at the administration center in North Naples, the publicists still reached for control. But the attempt to limit each journalist to one question did not last.

Initially there was flip-flopping by officials on whether it was cheating to field experienced athletes from Haiti against real high school teams of teenagers.

There was an urgency expressed by the administration to put all this behind us and move forward on new challenges toward fresh opportunities. Assistant Superintendent Eric Williams didn't get it. He was obsessed with process and paperwork — a robotic approach to a serious story with real impacts on real people. Here are fair-play violations so deep that state regulators cannot in good conscience levy the full fine of $100 per player per game.

The straight talk came from Schools Superintendent Ray Baker, who heard enough and rose from a side table he shared with School Board Chairwoman Kathleen Curatolo, who chewed gum and watched.

Baker acknowledged that yes, what happened at Immokalee was in fact cheating. "I'm not going to say it was not unintentional," Baker said.

That is crucial, because earlier he and Touron seemed to be saying because Touron failed to follow up on a Collier County Sheriff's Office deputy's report in October that there was a 23-year-old student on campus — and he may not be alone — that Touron did not really know that over-age players were on the field for the eventual 25-2 soccer season already in progress.

Touron said his "biggest mistake" was not to follow through on the deputy's warning. Later Touron said he did follow through, but the problem was with birth certificates and other documents that were available to him.

Baker was clearer. He said Touron did not follow through as he should have, and that included asking questions of the deputy about the source of his belief — sure enough to put in writing — of the 23-year-old's age.

Touron and Baker scored points, though, on Friday by stressing that they had not seen the deputy's report until last month, when the same officer unmasked the 30-year-old. They said Touron had been advised only verbally.

Yet, in hindsight, so what? The difference is between being told in writing or verbally is ... ?

Either way, Touron was advised something was wrong, ignored it and, to hear Baker tell it, kept it from Baker and other administrators in Naples.

Still, Baker downplayed the importance of the document, calling it an "information" rather than a formal report. My copy says "Offense Incident Report" at the top of Sheriff's Office letterhead.

Baker's finding on the fundamental cheating question makes it harder to justify keeping Touron, which Baker said he will do, citing his "leadership" in Immokalee and his deep caring for his school and students. Someday someone will ask whether coaching a "high school" team with five adults up to age 30 is the right kind of caring — the right kind of Immokalee pride.

Something like this would never happen at a Naples school. Parents of real teenagers bumped from the lineup by ringers would storm the school, then the School Board, then this newspaper. Immediately.

Touron opened Friday's media session by saying there is no plan to appeal the Florida High School Athletic Association sanctions — as if he or the school had any grounds.

Then Touron piled on the rhetoric: "And we'll move on from here" "I'm going to stay strong," "I have a passion for this game," "I will continue to work in a positive way."

Baker said he was headed from the press conference to the dentist, and smiled at the suggestion that the dentist might be more pleasant.

• • •

Baker took issue with one of our editorials that said a law had been broken by allowing these student athletes to attend classes beyond the age of 21. Actually, it is a Collier County School District rule, not a law, that was violated.

Baker is right on that one.

We all have to be precise.

Which is the point, isn't it?

Jeff Lytle is editorial page editor of the Daily News; his email address is jflytle@naplesnews.com