The Tri-Valley League champion, Bishop Diego, will not be hosting any playoff games during the 2012 CIF Southern Section’s Northwest Division playoffs, according to a report posted by Santa Barbara’s PresidioSports.com, published today. Bishop Diego will open the first round at South Torrance, one of the three At-Large teams in the bracket.
The sanctions, according to the website, stem from a flyer that was distributed in the Santa Barbara area promoting the school’s Spirit Day activities and Homecoming game in October, which invited 8th grade students to attend the event, which was an “Admissions Event,” according to a Statement the website received from Bishop Diego’s Head of School, Paul Harrington. The flyer, Harrington said, was to generate interest in the school for general enrollment purposes and that no athletics presentations were made at Spirit Day specifically for the students that were invited.
However, under CIF Bylaw 510, the Southern Section determined that the flyer, when it was passed out to a local Youth football league by a team mom/assistant who was not connected to the school and had no student attending Bishop Diego, constituted undue influence towards potential students. The Section’s investigation cleared the Cardinals’ coaching staff of any misconduct or violations in regards to the flyer, but the Cardinals were punished by not being allowed to host any games throughout the course of the Northwest Division playoffs.
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