Brighton Township youth football teams protest punishment after league signed off on ineligible player

Brighton Township's youth football teams have been kicked out of the playoffs after an eligibility issue involving one player.

The anger isn't over the rules, rather over who should be held responsible, because the consequences don't stop with the player or even his team — they extend to kids who had absolutely nothing to do with this.

The player turned 13 during the season, making him ineligible under league rules. But Brighton Township families say this was no secret.

They say the Beaver County Youth Football League, which oversees its member organizations, knew the player would turn 13 and signed off on his card before the season. And when Brighton realized there was an eligibility problem, they say they brought it to the league's attention.

"In the event that we make it to playoffs and then somehow this comes out and then we are punished because of it and at that point we would've known so we wanted to do the right thing and say it before it got to that, so as soon as we found out, it was discussed," said Amber Guido, the head coach's wife. 

But self-reporting didn't spare Brighton from the fallout. The player was released. The head coach was fired. The organization was fined $1,000. And all of its teams, which total 120 athletes, were kicked out of the playoffs. Brighton is also facing two years of probation, keeping its teams out of the postseason for those years as well.

"So let's take a step back, think about who we are really doing this for cause it is about the kids at the end of the day, or it should be. The whole organization being penalized for something that was an oversight, but was an oversight by the league — I don't think it should be coming down with this hard of a punishment."

In a statement to KDKA, the Beaver County Youth Football League says in part: 

"The situation has been handled in accordance with the BCYFL Bylaws. Our bylaws are established to ensure fairness and consistency across all member organizations and will be followed as written."

But Brighton families want to know why the league isn't sharing in the consequences. And for Guido, she believes there could be another way, one that doesn't punish dozens of kids.

"Maybe we make an exemption and say, 'You know what, you did the right thing, you told us about it, maybe we can make an amendment, an emergency amendment, right now in the middle of the season, not penalize 120 kids,'" Guido said. 

KDKA reached out to the board for further comment but never heard back.