NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A mother complaining on Facebook about her sons’ messy room led to the boys’ ineligibility on their high school football team and the school’s forfeiture of three wins.
The Perry County (Linden) Vikings, ranked third in division Class 1A, will not be able to count wins over three area teams because they used two ineligible players.
Offensive linemen Rodney and Ryan Belasic were declared ineligible by the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association because their entire family does not live in Perry County.
TSSAA Executive Director Bernard Childress said school officials thought the players’ entire family had moved to Perry County during the summer.
“But the mother actually works in Henry County, and she posted on her Facebook page that she sent the kids back to Perry County for the week and that she would not see them again until Friday night,” Childress said. “Then, later on her Facebook page, she posted, ‘How can two boys mess up their room as badly as they do when they’re only here on Saturday and Sunday?’”
Perry County’s record is 2-0.
Coaches and administrators in the Perry County area reported the Facebook posts to the TSSAA, which began interviewing the family.
When Childress notified Perry County of the potential problem two weeks ago, Vikings Coach Michael Harrison removed the Belasics from the team.
“We are sorry that this investigation happened and that the two players were deemed ineligible,” Harrison said in an emailed statement. “We hope to put this investigation behind us and move forward.”
The Cornersville, Forrest and Lewis county schools will keep the losses from Perry County on their records.
Individual statistics from those games still count. Perry County quarterback Jacob Tucker is 93 yards from breaking the state career record for total offense and 13 touchdowns from the state career record.
Let this be a lesson for all the kids out there that cleaning your room is more important than you think and that Mothers shouldn’t be on Facebook.
