WPIAL denies eligibility for former Vincentian football players

By: HSSN Staff
Thursday, September 7, 2017 | 8:09 PM

Two former Vincentian Academy football players who transferred elsewhere after the school folded the program can't play at their new schools either.

Charles Barley and Matthew Heim were ruled ineligible by the WPIAL during hearings Thursday in Green Tree, said WPIAL executive director Tim O'Malley. Barley, a senior, enrolled at Imani Christian Academy. Heim, a junior, transferred to Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic.

Both were ruled ineligible in football for one year from their transfer date. O'Malley said WPIAL board members were sympathetic to their situation — and the vote for each was split — but the board had to enforce PIAA guidelines that prohibit transfers for athletic intent.

“The rule's in there for a reason,” O'Malley said. “You can't apply it in an arbitrary sense.”

If Vincentian had shuttered the football program for financial reasons, then the two students could have enrolled elsewhere without issue. But school administrators had said the team folded because it didn't have enough players.

The WPIAL held eligibility hearings for five students, and all were declared ineligible.

Chartiers-Houston's Emily Brookman, who transferred from McGuffey, is ineligible in softball for one year, and Trinity sisters Emily and Kaylin Veniek, who transferred from Jefferson-Morgan, are ineligible in basketball, O'Malley said.

All can appeal the decisions to the PIAA.

Chris Harlan is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at charlan@tribweb.com or via Twitter @CHarlan_Trib.

Tags: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, Imani Christian, North Catholic, Vincentian Academy