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RIFLE, Colo. (AP) — Rifle High School officials are challenging a ruling by the Colorado High School Activities Association, saying some allegations against them were fabricated and others were speculation, according to the Glenwood Springs Post Independent.
Documents obtained by the newspaper include a Nov. 24 letter from Fort Morgan High School Athletic Director Kyle Bules to Harry Waterman, assistant commissioner of the high school sports association. Bules wrote that "Rifle had a videographer on our sideline," a matter he wanted "handled and fully investigated at the CHSAA level."
Waterman told Rifle High Principal Todd Ellis that the school's football coach, Damon Wells, and the football program were guilty of a "flagrant and unethical use of video equipment on the opponent's sideline during a semifinal contest."
Wells wrote back, saying some of the allegations were not true, and others were just speculation. The Rifle teams have been state-title game qualifiers in two of the past three seasons.
Among Bules' allegations is that the videographer, who was wearing an earpiece, told Bules he was talking to Rifle's defensive coordinator. But Rifle officials say the videographer did not have the capability to do that with the equipment he had.
The sports association said there is no appeal from the ruling. Fort Morgan school officials were not available for comment on Friday.
No matter what, the penalty requires a one-game suspension for Wells, which Wells said unfairly punishes students, the newspaper reported (http://tinyurl.com/q6d82vx ).
"The sanctions are pushing me away from the game and the lives of young people," he wrote. "I cannot accept that my reputation will be sullied, I will be labeled a cheater, and our boys could be ineligible for postseason play ..."
The sports association says it changed its rules after the complaints were filed to make it clear there are boundaries for the media.
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Information from: Post Independent, http://www.postindependent.com/
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