Use of Ineligible Player Forces Royal to Forfeit Only Victory of Season

Royal High’s football team has forfeited its only victory--a 17-13 decision over Agoura on Sept. 16--because it used an ineligible player, according to Royal officials.

The player already had exhausted his 8 semesters of athletic eligibility--4 at El Camino Real and 4 at Royal--before this season. He repeated the 10th grade at Royal for academic reasons.

Royal officials declined to identify the player, saying only that he was a seldom-used reserve.

The player, who has been removed from the team, apparently had been told by his counselor that his athletic ability had expired, but first-year Coach Gene Uebelhardt was not notified, according to Royal Principal Dave Jackson.

Jackson said that the school discovered the error after the game against Agoura and immediately notified officials from the Southern Section and Agoura.

The forfeit comes 6 months after Royal was nearly stripped of its boys’ soccer championship for using a player who participated with a Junior Olympic team during the soccer season. The Southern Section recommended at the time that 3 Royal administrators--including Athletic Director Glenn Lipman, who eventually resigned--be relieved of their duties,

“We police ourselves,” said Jackson, who started at the school last semester. “We feel like we have to be a little more above board.”

The action strips the Highlanders of their first victory since their second game of 1987, also over Agoura.

The reaction from Uebelhardt was more of relief than anger.

“Somebody made a mistake three years ago when he went through the 10th grade twice,” he said. “I’m just glad we found out now before we got into league.”

Royal is 0-4, 0-1 in Marmonte League play. Agoura is 3-0-1.