Section Ends Automatic Banishment : High schools: Discovery of an ineligible player between the time a league submits its entries and the playoffs start won’t eliminate the team.

The Southern Section General Council Thursday approved a rule change that will end automatic expulsion from the playoffs after discovery of an ineligible player.

The council voted that any violation discovered between the time a league submits its entries and the start of the playoffs will result in the section disqualifying the player involved but not the team.

Concerns were raised during the meeting at the Sequoia Athletic Club that the change would permit a team that knowingly cheated to continue through the playoffs, losing only its ineligible player.

Section Commissioner Dean Crowley said individual leagues retain the authority to remove their teams from the playoffs if violations are discovered before entries are submitted to the section.

“Once we get the rosters and entries on (the required date) before the playoffs, it’s a done deal,” Crowley said.

He added that the section’s executive council would serve as a neutral body for teams wanting to appeal such league decisions.

Violations discovered after the first round of the playoffs would result in disqualifying the ineligible player’s team and the forfeiture of its previous playoff victory.

In such cases, the losing team could advance to the next round provided the date of the game had not passed. If the losing team decided not to continue, the team it would have met would receive a bye in the next round.

The council also:

* Approved reduction of the section’s Dual Meet Wrestling Championship from a two-day tournament to one day, effective next school year. Under the new format the dual meet preliminary and championships would be held on the Saturday before the individual divisional championships.

* Voted to disallow badminton, golf and tennis coaches from playing with their athletes in matches or foursomes, or providing instruction outside each sport’s season.

* Approved a student’s one-time transfer from a private school to the public school in the student’s district without loss of eligibility, providing such a move is not made for disciplinary reasons.

* Approved a proposal to lower the age of eligible varsity football players from 15 to 14 for the Desert Valley and Imperial leagues.