Friday, Jan. 14, 2011
5:56 PM
By Mike Clark
YourSeason.com
The Maine South football program has been placed on probation and head coach Dave Inserra and assistant Rick Magsamen have been suspended for the 2011 season opener by the IHSA.
IHSA executive director Marty Hickman announed the sanctions Friday afternoon, completing the organization's probe into violations that included the use of counterfeit sideline passes at the state finals and the failure to follow rules on the number of coaches allowed on the field and in the press box.
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"There were a litany of indiscretions that took place at the state finals this year and that situtation was compounded by issues that occurred at other playoff games," Hickman said in a written statement. "That established a pattern of behavior in our minds and thus, it became important to look at this not only from a safety and sportsmanship perspective, but also to gauge if Maine South had gained a competitive advantage by having more than the allowable number of coaches on the field and in the press box."
The Hawks, who have won three straight state titles, are on probation until Dec. 1, 2011. In addition, Inserra and Magsamen will not be able to coach in the first week of next season.
The IHSA also said that Maine South will not be able to host IHSA postseason events "until demonstrating compliance with IHSA playoff policies."
This is the second time Maine South's football program has been placed on probation in two years. In April of 2009, the school was sanctioned because of a quarterback clinic held at the school by an assistant coach.
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"It is importantr that these penalties represented the seriousness of the actions," Hickman said in the statement. "We wanted to make it clear that it couldn't just be an apology and back to business as usual. Based on the talks and meeting we have had with Maine South since the state finals, I am confident that their administration and coaching staff have already taken steps in the right direction and are going to work diligently to prevent something like this from happening again."