Colton’s Corner: The UIL State Executive Committee lacks consistency

The University Interscholastic League has one of the tougher jobs in the state.

The organization is responsible for over 3,000 high schools who participate in football, volleyball, boys basketball, girls basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, tennis, swimming, and many other high school sports.

It takes a lot of work from not only the people from the UIL but the school districts as well in order to help run one of the best high school sports organizations in the nation.

For the most part, my complaints towards the UIL have been kept at a minimum. But then there is the UIL State Executive Committee.

The SEC, according to the UIL, is “appointed by the Commissioner of the Texas Education Agency, is composed of eight school administrators, representing each of the four geographical regions and each of the six conferences, and a minimum of four-atlarge members. This committee interprets the rules, settles disputes between different UIL districts and disputes which arise past the district level, conducts investigations and hearings of alleged violations, and hears appeals.”

The job of the SEC is crucial when settling disputes among school districts but also laying down the law when a line is crossed.

One of those lines is high schools recruiting students to play for their athletic programs, particularly when a high school coach starts convincing athletes to play for their respective schools.

As part of the SEC, it is their job to review the evidence that is presented, make a ruling and hand down the punishment, when needed, to make sure schools realize this behavior is unacceptable.

Unfortunately for San Marcos High School, this is something both administrators, coaches and students are all too familiar with.

San Marcos was accused by schools in their own district with allegations of high school recruitment during the summer of 2022.

Though the District 27 Executive Committee issued a two-year postseason ban for the San Marcos football program and declared the students involved ineligible, the SEC changed course and originally decided to just give SMHS three years probation – no post season ban.

In a separate meeting, the SEC denied an appeal from the San Marcos athletes that had been ruled ineligible. In the third and final meeting, the SEC gave the San Marcos football program a postseason ban for the 2023 season along with suspension for a two coaches.

The was a difficult situation for everyone involved but heartbreaking for the senior football class of the 2023, who were not at all involved.

Yet those wounds were insultingly opened during the SEC meeting last Wednesday.

High school powerhouse Galena Park North Shore was accused of recruiting high school players to play football for the juggernaut, who has won three state championships in the past six years.

With Galena Park North Shore offensive coordinator Andrew Parker admitting to the recruitment during the meeting, SEC suspended Parker for three years. Head Coach Willie Gaston was suspended two district games for being responsible of the program.

But that is where the similarities between the punishment of North Shore and San Marcos end. For North Shore, the players involved in the recruitment will not be ruled ineligible nor will North Shore, as a football team, be suspended from the postseason. The committee stated they wanted to focus their attention on the coaches involved.

It was this decision that angered me, and I'm sure many across San Marcos, so much.

In cases where both San Marcos and North Shore faced allegations of recruitment ending with coaches being suspended, North Shore will not have to face the heart-break of being ineligible from postseason and the athletes involved don’t have to worry about being ineligible while San Marcos was hit with the wrath of the SEC.

It does not make sense that the SEC treated San Marcos so harshly while North Shore will get away with a much more minor slap on the wrist.

This is not to say that North Shore should have postseason taken away this season and the athletes eligibility taken away, because that is cruel for those said players who were not involved. San Marcos knows first hand.

What it does say that certain programs are treated under different circumstances than others.

The SEC didn’t want to punish the athletes involved at North Shore because, rightly so, the focus should be on the coaches.

Yet that same decision making was thrown out the window for San Marcos. Why?

What separates San Marcos from North Shore under seemingly the same circumstances that one school gets off lighter than the other?

If the SEC truly believes that the focus should be on the coaches, then re-instate the San Marcos athletes who are currently ineligible today.

It’s not wrong to lay down the law for allegations of high school recruitment. Rules are rules. But to lay down punishment that is wildly inconsistent between schools is unacceptable and down right cruel.

Do better SEC.

cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc