As the Brownsville Rivera Raider baseball team hopes against hope that a District 32-6A executive committee's decision to forfeit all games played by an ineligible player will be overturned, many team supporters are saying that the baseball coach, AD Tom Chavez, the high school principal and the district administration dropped the ball in the matter.
As a result, the Rivera baseball team which was headed to the playoffs will not take the field and Harlingen is now in the playoffs as the 4th seed.
Despite tying with Weslaco for second in District 32-6A, Rivera (10-4) will not be playing.
Insiders, however, say that coach Travis Parker had been given the heads up by other teams in the district that several of his players may have been missing the necessary paper work to play on the team. However, they say Parker did not take measures to straighten out
the matter.
the matter.
"Rivera was told three to four weeks before the end of the season that some six players may have incomplete paperwork and that they should fix that," they said. "They were told not only once, but as many as four or five times and emails sent to the coach, the principal and finally AD Chavez. They did nothing."
At least two opposing coaches called Travis and Chavez and copied their emails to principal Norma Jean Canales who then got in touch with AD Chavez on the matter. It got to the point that even an AD from another school district called Chavez to discuss the issue. Still, nothing was done."
After these repeated attempts, the other coaches decided to call a district district executive committee which voted 6-1 vote against the Raiders, forfeiting the games played by the alleged ineligible player and knocked them out of the playoffs.
The committee met through a teleconference to discuss the matter over two days. As the seriousness of the issue became apparent, Brownsville Independent School District trustee Joe Rodriguez and general counsel Baltazar Salazar were brought into no avail.
A one point the chairman of the committee told a persistent Salazar to remain silent and not interrupt the proceedings because they did not need to hear from him.
"Salazar kept interrupting and was finally told to be quiet," they said. "Coach Joe may have had influence in Austin in the past, but this time the committee was firm in implementing the rules."
The committee decided that the player lacked a previous athletic participation form or residency waiver for him to be eligible to compete for the Raiders, even if he was zoned for Rivera. However, he had attended Brownsville Veterans Memorial for the majority of the 2016-17 school year and returned to Rivera near the end of the school year last year and has attended Rivera ever since, including the entire 2017-18 school year to date.
His parents are married, but are currently separated and live at different residences.
"The coach, principal, AD Chavez, Coach Joe, and (superintendent Esperanza) Zendejas are not qualified. Chavez may be a nice guy, but he is not qualified to interpret and implement the UIL rules," said a team suppoter. "As a result, some of these players who have been playing for three or four years and were finally make the playoffs got left out. Some may call that a gross dereliction of duty. They were repeatedly warned about this and did nothing. Chavez belongs on the sidelines, he doesn't have the administrative skills to be an AD. As a result, it had a direct and significant impact on the kids, the parents, and the school district."
21 comments:
So why wasnt the issue brought uo the prevuous year? Veteran's should.of forfeited their games if the atudent athlete was zoned for Rivera.
Rene Medrano should be the Athletic Director ..... should have been along time ago!!
Valley high school sports is mediocre! Mexicans can play soccer and little else!!!
What a bunch of idiot coaches not even "pappy" Rodriguez could help Chavez.
Compadrismo doesn't reach all the way to Austin? Imagine that...
Coach Joe needs to call it quits. His body is telling him to do so, but he insists on being the "Honorary AD" and the top-notch board member he is not.
He is causing more problems for the district than helping and what about the
300,000 dollar lawyer Balty that we pay for nothing? What a shame and then, it all comes back to Dr. Z since she is at the helm. Rivera parents need to get together and get rid of all those foggies who still think they are God-gift to athletics and everybody else. Hechenlos fuera!
"So why wasnt the issue brought uo the prevuous year? Veteran's should.of forfeited their games if the atudent athlete was zoned for Rivera."
----- Because according to the Lopez HS coaches, that kid was originally zoned to Lopez out of Perkins MS, the kid decided to go to Veterans. While the kid was in 8th grade the Perkins coaching staff notified Chavez that he was going to loose a prized future QB with a great arm and baseball future so Chavez, not wanting to loose his prized QB and to give his grandson (baseball player at Rivera) more baseball talent...Tom Chavez and the Rivera baseball coach solicited and got the Perkins MS coaching staff to write up a memo stating the kid told the Perkins coaching staff he was going to Veterans because it was a better program(athletic purposes). When the allegations reached Veterans HS for the first time, Coach Cantu,the baseball coach and the principal Gallegos did the right thing and immediately initiated the previous athletic participation form to get him cleared but since there were conflicting addresses because parents were getting divorced or separated the kid and the parent exhausted all channels and eventually lost the appeal in Austin with the UIL. So he didn't play sanctioned games for Veterans and thus went to Rivera at the end of the school year. Rivera admins, baseball coach Parker and AD Chavez should have done what the Veterans staff did, but they probably thought that Chavez was almighty and didn't need to. What baffles me is that if they were sent emails, calls, and told about this weeks ago and from the same opponent schools and did absolutely nothing ... that is gross negligence on their part and all should be removed of their duties because ultimately they were all inept at performing their due diligence. The kids suffered because of inept staff at Rivera. They also told me that 4 other players were on the Hanna team last year and transferred to Rivera for athletic purposes as well but their addresses were not in limbo with divorce/separations like the other player. Not to mention wasn't it this same baseball coach who was trying to distribute political flyers for his father all around Rivera HS using school paper and ink or something like that?
Fire Chavez and hire Aimee Garza-Limon for AD, Fire Rivera administration who failed our kids.
It was bound to happen. These bozo's incompetence and their greed is NOW affecting ALL students at BISD. It's now high time to kick these money hungry board out.
If he didnt play sanctioned games at veterans
Then there should be NO Issue!
A GOOD portion of the "coaching" staff at Rivera has worked way passed the 30 yr mark and can retire. They don't retire because they fell protected by certain board members so they keep on getting above average salaries and doing their own mis-management. If a principal disagrees with their workings, the principal is the one doing wrong, but not the coach or athletic director.
Mr. Montoya, please inform us what is the salary of Mr. Chavez? What are his duties? What is the salary of Mr. Uresti at Porter and what are his duties? This tax payer wants to know.
Thank you
@4:17 I'm not the guy who wrote the original comment you are replying to, but he didn't play because veterans because they went thru the right channels and waited
Only Rivera's soccer staff can bring honor.
Does Uresti have a 4 year degree? Is he even certified to teach? Those are the true questions.
blogger 10:06 really should apply for a job with the White House. Trump is looking for leakers and I just found one. Once upon a time, the individual coach was solely responsible for checking the eligibility for his/her athletes. The principal would only rubber stamp the form because they trusted their coaches and knew that nothing would be done to harm the kids. It is not so anymore. All that matters is winning, regardless of scruples. Of course we did not have so many schools, but we still took pride in checking the eligibility because it was a part of our duty as a coach and we owed it to the kids. What has happened to those times? We are getting too big for our britches. I say the coach responsible for this fiasco should be dismissed immediately as well as the lawyer and the school board member who is micromanaging and cutting into governance issues. School board members have no business getting involved with individual schools or coaches. They are now being referred to as the Mascot of a certain school, like the one at Pace who sleeps, eats, and takes pictures at Pace at all hours of the day. That is governance, Minerva and two-faced.
Why don't you pay that much attention to the other schools, including your own Alma Mater - which by the way - you denied having graduated from there when you told the Hanna athletes you were from Hanna. You were there at
BHS but not Hanna, mentirosa!
So whats the issue?
Soon it will all be over everybody take a three month vacation WITH PAY pinches MAMONES LLORENES...
anonymous@May 13, 2018 at 10:18 AM
.....Soon it will all be over everybody take a three month vacation WITH PAY pinches MAMONES LLORENES......
FYI...I'm not defending these coaches, but letting you know how this pay works. Teachers/ coaches/ principals work 9-10 months a year and get their pay split up for 12 months. The 3 month vacation with so- called pay ( as you call it) have already been worked. This is something a lot of people don't understand.
Yea right! Three months OFF this is ridiculous. Nobody in the UNIVERSE does this. NOBODY! NO WORK IS NO WORK PERIOD. In other words if it were an important job you would be there the entire YEAR.
And you have the gall to complain. PINCHE MAMONES...
SHUT YOUR MOUTH AND WORK THE WHOLE YEAR LIKE THE REST OF THE UNIVERSE.
Anonymous may 16, @ 12:15. Lol , who's complaining? Don't you understand that the regular school year doesn't go for 12 months, unless students fail and they need to go to summer school? That's right!! No work is no work!! The 3 months off are not on the clock. The 9 month scholastic year worked is pro-rated into 12 months, and I will not resort to calling you names. Don't know how else to explain this.
3 months paid with out work, 3 months vacation, 9 months worked with pay divided into 12 months. WHAT EVER YOU CALL IT, it is what it is nation wide for a very important reason.
If anyone needs a vacation, it's a teacher. Just imagine, you whining people (that are in deep need of a vacation) having to teach/manage/control/inspire a pain in the butt like yourself for 9 long l o n g months and multibly that person by 20 or so through out every school day. Now please note, that not every kid is mean and full of hate like you, but we do get our share. Get a grip and respect teachers. Oh, one more thing stop letting people poop in your b'fast taco everyday and grow up a bit and try to be a good role model to your children and raise them with the ability to RESPECT others and you are never too old to grow up and change for the better.
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