Bishop Fenwick students 'heartbroken' over MIAA ban on postseason play
PEABODY - Hundreds of kids and parents packed the auditorium at Bishop Fenwick High School to hear the school answer to allegations it lied to the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association.
In a multiple page letter released Monday, the MIAA detailed the two specific allegations that led it to ban all Bishop Fenwick sports teams from playing in postseason tournaments in the 2023-2024 season.
In one situation, the MIAA said Bishop Fenwick allowed a seventh-grade student to play on its varsity baseball team. The MIAA was alerted to the rules violation from an anonymous parent whose high school son was cut from the same team.
In another situation, Bishop Fenwick administrators were allegedly dishonest about a player's eligibility when applying for a fifth-year athletic waiver.
The school's president Tom Nunan told WBZ none of the actions were "through will or malice or deceit, or an attempt to lie or cheat in any way, shape or form."
Parents who spoke at the meeting were initially supportive of the school but were frustrated that their students were paying the price for administrators' behavior, and wanted to see accountability or disciplinary action for staff - something the president deflected.
Student-athletes showed up to the meeting with their teams wearing team apparel. "Going into my senior year. I was really excited to play sports and hopefully get to the tournaments, especially going into my senior year because of how far we made it last year for basketball, so we had really high expectations," explained rising senior Tess Keenan. "So, it's just really heartbreaking and I'm hoping that there could be a positive turn out."
Parents worry what the decision will mean for the future of the school, where eighty percent of students play sports.
"[My son] has huge aspirations for playing in college, and this is devastating," parent Jill Murray told WBZ. "So, he wants to transfer. He wants an opportunity to play. He wants to have the incentive of playing postseason...I worry that a lot of students are going to end up transferring to another school and that's going to jeopardize this school and their future and at the end of the day for what? For a postseason trophy in high school?"
The MIAA decision is final, but the school has retained an attorney to explore other options and to engage with the association.
