Middletown's football team was supposed to be celebrating a perfect regular season heading into Saturday's Section IX Class AA championship. Instead, the Enlarged City School District of Middletown is preparing to ask a judge to intervene, after the Middie Bears were disqualified from the title game because a player who had not met postseason eligibility requirements took the field in a playoff game.
Waiver Denied, Appeal Rejected
According to Daily Voice, district officials learned on Nov. 8 that the player had not appeared in the minimum number of required regular-season games. Middletown requested a waiver from Section IX, but that request was denied, and a subsequent appeal to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association was rejected on Monday, Nov. 9. The player was ineligible because he had not participated in the minimum three regular-season games required by Section 9 rules.
With administrative options exhausted, the district announced it was finalizing an Article 78 proceeding in New York State Supreme Court, with plans to complete the filing Wednesday evening, according to the same Daily Voice report. Superintendent Amy Creeden announced the planned legal challenge and said the district is pursuing every available legal avenue. Creeden acknowledged that a mistake occurred within the athletic program but said the district is not asking for the error to be overlooked — only questioning whether disqualification is a proportionate consequence. She said the district respects the rules governing high school athletics and believes adults can be held accountable without stripping students of their championship opportunity, adding that steps will be taken to prevent similar eligibility errors going forward.
A Perfect Season Now in Jeopardy
The stakes are high for a team that had, by at least one account, not finished a regular season undefeated since 1961 — though Mid Hudson News reported the drought instead dated to 1965, a discrepancy that remains unresolved between the two outlets. Either way, Middletown's 48-15 semifinal victory over Valley Central put the Middie Bears into Saturday's scheduled Section IX Class AA championship, now hanging in legal limbo.
State Senator James Skoufis, who represents Middletown, wrote a letter to NYSPHSAA on Nov. 11 asking the organization to reconsider, and he spoke directly with NYSPHSAA Executive Director Robert Zayas that same day. Skoufis called the disqualification of an undefeated team over what he characterized as a minimal error a disgraceful judgment, and said the player's participation was brief and did not meaningfully affect the 48-15 semifinal win. He pointed to language in the NYSPHSAA handbook that he said allows the executive director to grant participation-rule waivers under extenuating circumstances, and urged Zayas to use that authority to let Middletown compete. Skoufis said he believes the association's own rules provide a remedy for the decision, and indicated support for pursuing the challenge through the state education commissioner and the courts if athletic officials do not reverse course.
Officials Line Up Behind the District
Skoufis was not alone in pushing back. Middletown Mayor Joseph DeStefano urged athletic officials to consider alternatives to forfeiture, including penalties aimed at the adults responsible rather than the players, according to the Daily Voice report. District Attorney David Hoovler and Assemblywoman Paula Elaine Kay also voiced support for the district's effort to challenge the disqualification.
NYSPHSAA has defended its handling of the matter as a matter of consistency. As reported by Spectrum News, the association said it has a responsibility to ensure the consistent and equitable application of its rules and eligibility standards across all member schools. Spectrum News also reported that the district's response evolved from administrative appeals into active work with legal counsel to pursue further legal recourse.
Not Middletown's First Brush With Eligibility Trouble
This isn't the program's first run-in with eligibility rules. Mid Hudson News noted that in 2019, Middletown forfeited four Section 9 football games, including three division contests, for using an ineligible player, and the team did not qualify for the playoffs that season as a result.
Eligibility disputes of this kind aren't unique to New York, either. In a separate case this year, a Kent County judge in Michigan upheld the Michigan High School Athletic Association's decision to remove Grand Rapids Catholic Central from the playoffs, according to Yahoo Sports — a reminder that courts don't always side with schools challenging athletic association rulings. Whether Middletown's Article 78 filing changes that calculus, and whether Saturday's championship game goes forward as scheduled, remains to be seen.
