Glenville High School was placed on a three-year probation, and is ineligible for the 2018 playoffs, according to the state.
According to the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA), there are 13 players on the football team that should play for other schools, based on their addresses.
Ten players should play for John Hay, two should play for Collinwood High School and one player did not have an address associated with him.
Chester Lottier's grandson is a senior player on the team, and now he is worried about missing out on a football scholarship.
"He put in a lot of time for this. Other boys have put in time. To have it taken away from them is not right," Lottier said. "You don't enforce a rule in the middle of the year."
Cleveland Public School's spokesperson Roseann Canfora said the district filed an appeal with OHSAA to find a way to hold the district accountable, not the kids.
"It is apparent that a rule created in cooperation with the Ohio High School Athletic Association in 2007 and that was reaffirmed in August, 2018, was not followed. The District takes seriously any infraction of OHSAA rules, and is holding accountable those who failed in their oversight responsibilities.
District officials met this week with players and their families to brief them on OHSAA’s findings. In addition, we began disciplinary procedures for those who erred in player assignments and have called for professional development, including a review of OHSAA rules, to be repeated for every member of the administrative staff in the Athletics Department.
While we accept full responsibility for the sanctions imposed by OHSAA, we take exception to penalties imposed on our players. For this reason, CMSD has filed an appeal with OHSAA to find a way to hold the District accountable without imposing harm to our students for the decisions of adults."
Head coach and owner of Lake Erie Youth Football Leron Fullerton said some of his players go to Glenville.
While rules are rules, he said this has never been enforced, and there will be long-term penalties for these young men.
"A lot of these kids need this guidance. They need the leadership to get out of this community because everything they see every day is a harsh reality," he said. "The drugs. The guns. All the bad things that you see around here."
The school is consistently one of the best in the areas, and made it to the playoffs 16 times in the last 19 years.
News 5 reached out to Glenville High School football coach, Ted Ginn Senior, and he said he was not ready to talk on camera at this time.
The school is on probation through the 2020 - 2021 school year.
