Roseville forfeits 3 wins after using ineligible player

The unbeaten Roseville football team has forfeited its first three victories this season for using at least one ineligible player.

Lopsided victories over Monroe (42-11), Harrison Township L’Anse Creuse (48-14) and St. Clair (66-0) are now losses, leaving Roseville with a 2-3 record heading into this Friday’s home game against Warren Woods Tower.

“It was a technicality,” claimed third-year head coach Vernard Snowden. “We had a kid who transferred. His parents separated, the kid moved in with a relative, his grandmother, while they were going through the separation.

“Long story short, we did not identify that the rule states that they have to be legally divorced and that’s it. It was just a simple mess up.”

There may be more mess ups involved at

Roseville.

Tom Rashid, associate director of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, said the school is still under the association’s scrutiny.

“We’re waiting on one other one,” Rashid said. “We’re continuing to work with the school. It’s not uncommon when there’s a high number of transfers. It takes time to review all of the material. We’re still looking at least one other student.”

Reports are that Roseville had multiple football transfer players, but Snowden said a couple of them have not played at all this season.

“Do we have four or five transfers? Yep, but there were only three of them playing, but the other two are ineligible,” Snowden said. “At the end of the day it’s kids we’ve said no, you’re not eligible because it was not a full and a complete move, no, you’re ineligible because of this.”

“For this situation, it’s one kid that has transferred that is deemed ineligible.”

Transfer athletes have hit an epidemic level and it appears some school administrators have not done their due diligence when it comes to researching the circumstances behind the transfer.

Roseville is one school attracting a number of transfer students.

“It was nothing we did malicious,” Snowden said. “Our AD, we’re over here kicking ourselves because we thought we did everything the right way. We thought of the exception with him staying with his grandmother and moving with his father once they separated and not being divorced that was good.

“But clearly I guess we have to brush up on some things.”

At 2-3, Roseville still has a chance to qualify for the Division 2 state playoffs, but will likely need to win out.