On December 3rd, Emmanuel Duron assaulted an official after he was ejected from the game. The fallout was immense, both on and off the field. Duron was arrested and charged with class A assault. Edinburg High School removed itself from the state playoffs. There was a lot of debate online as to whether the entire team should be punished for the actions of one player, with the majority of our social media followers believing the team should not have been removed from the playoffs. The UIL had a hearing today, and they not only added more punishments against the football team, player and coach, but also against the entire Edinburg High School athletic program.
The UIL voted unanimously to suspend Duron for the rest of the school year and to place Edinburg Head Coach JJ Leija on a one year probation period. The surprise came as the UIL also decided that they will place the entire Edinburg High School athletic program on a two-year probation period.
Here is the statement from the UIL:
AUSTIN, TX — The State Executive Committee of the University Interscholastic League met Monday to hand down decisions on eligibility of student-athletes and issue penalties for UIL rules violations.
Edinburg High School Head Football Coach J.J. Leija received a public reprimand and was placed on probation for the 2021-2022 school year. Additionally, the Edinburg High School Athletic Department received a public reprimand and probation for all athletic activities for two years stemming from an incident of physical contact between a student-athlete and a sports official on December 3, 2020.
The student-athlete from Edinburg High School was suspended from all UIL activities for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year for violation of Section 50 (a)(3) of the UIL Constitution and Contest Rules, prohibited interaction with a sports official.
In other action, a student-athlete from Dickinson High School was denied an appeal for varsity eligibility, upholding the previous ruling of the district executive committee.
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