‘It’s hard to look them in the eye’ | AD describes difficulty of Greeneville forfeit

GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (WJHL) — Greeneville High School’s football team had to forfeit its first win of the season against Tennessee High due to a student on the team not being eligible to play during the Aug. 23 game.

“On Aug. 28, we realized that there was an eligibility issue,” said Brad Woolsey, the athletic director at Greeneville High School. “We addressed that issue with [Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association], followed the guidance, and got it resolved.”

Woolsey told News Channel 11 that as soon as he realized the mistake, he self-reported it to the Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association (TSSAA).

“I was completing a roster details tab with the TSSAA portal and realized that there was a mistake,” said Woolsey. “As soon as we found out there was a mistake, we let them know and went forward from there.”

Both Woolsey and Greeneville High Principal DeAnna Martin sat down with the students to give them the news that the Greene Devils’ 54-7 win over the Vikings would be forfeited.

“We had a meeting yesterday morning where we called all of our football players in and our coaches to be able to deliver that message to them,” said Martin. “And tell them that our focus is always on our students and that we are sincerely sorry for the mistake that has been made.”

Woolsey said it was not easy for him to tell the students that they would not be receiving credit for the win against Tennessee High.

“It hurts me to know that they don’t get credit for the game that they played, but a mistake was made on my part, and I regret that,” said Woolsey. “Personally, it’s hard to look them in the eye and say that, but they’ve given great effort. They’ve done everything they need to do and so we’re excited for what they’re going to do moving forward.”

Martin said she commends Woolsey for self-reporting the mistake.

“I’m very proud of our staff that we self-reported as soon as we found that a mistake had been made,” said Martin. “I think it’s a great lesson for our students to tell them when we make a mistake, we own that mistake and then move forward from there.”

Woolsey said that the issue has been resolved and he did submit a hardship application to allow the student in question to be eligible to play. The application was approved effective Sept. 3.

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