Coolidge kicked out of 3A basketball tournament, Athletic Department placed on Probation

Following a special executive board meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the Arizona Interscholastic Association executive board has voted to kick the Coolidge Bears out of the 3A boys basketball postseason and placed the athletic department on probation according to sources.

This comes following the Bears quarterfinal victory over Chinle high school on February 20th where reports surfaced that Chinle players were called racially abusive names and were spat on by Coolidge fans after the contest.

According to sources with knowledge of the meeting, the board cited game management and crowd control issues as a whole following the contest as well as issues in other sports this school year as their reasoning to put the athletic department on probation.

With the decision to kick the Bears out of the 3A basketball tournament, the No. 10 seed Snowflake will advance to the 3A conference championship game on Saturday afternoon at Veteran’s Memorial Coliseum.

At the conclusion of the game between Chinle and Coolidge, students and fans from the school went onto the court and disrupted the handshake line with taunts and gestures. As this took place, other fans directed derogatory remarks towards Chinle.

Following the decision, the AIA released the following statement:

“Today the Arizona Interscholastic Association's Executive Board took the action of placing the athletic department of Coolidge High School on Probation effective immediately for 365 days. All Coolidge athletic teams will be ineligible for postseason competition during this time frame as per Bylaw 16.1. The AIA and its member schools are committed to highest levels of respectful behavior“

According to sources within Coolidge, the athletic department is looking to appeal the decision in the next 24 hours hoping to reach a resolution that’ll allow the boys basketball program to compete in the 3A semifinals on Friday morning