By Tim Fleischer
Editor-in-Chief

It’s not the way Coach Jared Cruddas wanted his Salado Eagles to get to the 4A, Division. 1 State Finals, but less than 10 minutes before the Eagles were to play the undefeated Progreso Red Ants at San Antonio’s Comalander, the UIL State Executive Committee (SEC) ruled that the Red Ants would forfeit their entire season.

“I wanted us to play it out on the field,” he told me, just after it was announced at the Comalander Stadium that the game was forfeit and as fans from both communities were told to exit the stadium.
The Red Ants were under investigation for alleged violations of UIL rules, but on the morning of their State Semi-final soccer match with Salado April 4, a new allegation was made that a sophomore player was ineligible because Progreso failed to file a Previous Athletic Participation Form (PAPF) with the District Executive Committee.
The emergency meeting was held via audio conference led by Mike Motheral, chair of the SEC.
Present from Progreso were PISD Superintenddent Sergio Coronado, the sophomore student involved and PISD legal counsel Eden Ramirez and Benjamin Castillo, both of O’Hanlon, Demrath & Castillo.
UIL representatives included UIL Director of Compliance Services Joel Nolte, Director of Compliance Services, UIL Director of Athletics Ray Zepeda and Dr. Jamey Harrison, who was named UIL Executive Director of the University Interscholastic League on April 1.
Motheral announced that the purpose of the hearing was to consider violations of the UIL Constitution Section 443.c. concerning changing schools for athletic purposes and Section 443.e., concerning Previous Athletic Participation.
Speaking with the aid of a translator, the student said that he played varsity soccer for Progreso in 2024 as a freshmen. Due to family issues, he moved in with his aunt in LaJoya, where he registered with Palmview High School, a 5A school 40 miles from Progreso.
The student testified through translation that he moved back to Progreso because “The family problems were resolved” and that the Palmview coach told him that he could not play soccer in Palmview, even though he was registered in an athletic period.
He enrolled at Palmview on Sept. 3, 2024 and then re-enrolled at Progreso on Oct. 15, 2024, a period of less than 30 school days, as pointed out by Supt. Coronado.
“The big reason we’re here is that on the move back to Progreso, no PAPF was completed,” Motheral said, “which is a requirement, not an option. All coaches should know this and are responsible for filling that out. No flags went up for District Executive Committee, because they did not have the information needed.”
The PAPF is a two-page form that must be filled out for new students coming from another school to determine if they are eligible to play in the new school. Three questions help determine if the student is changing schools for athletic purposes:
16. Did anyone from the new school contact the student prior to their enrollment in the new school.
17. Was the student prohibited from participating at the prior school?
18. Did the student play on a non-school team and is transferring to the school where members of the non-school team attend?
Supt. Coronado testified that “This (earlier in the day) is the first time I head this situation.”
He added that the Head Soccer Coach Damian Magallan told him that Magallan contacted the District Executive Committee Chair (whose name is not listed on UIL website) and was told by the DEC Chair that filling out the PAPF was not necessary, “that all they needed was an email from the coaches because the student did not complete more than 30 days in Palmview. The coaches sent an email to Mr. Perez, Chair of the DEC.”
Attorney Ramirez said that “our contention is that he never played and he was never ruled ineligible by the DEC.”
Ramirez asserted that said that the plain language of 443.e. is that the school should not have been required to fill out the PAPF for the student because “he did not participate in any contest or in a practice.”
Zepeda retorted, “He was enrolled in soccer athletics class. Page 1, Question 1. He would need to fill out if participated before, after or during school.”
“We want to do what’s right here today and we will do what’s right,” Motheral said. “The folks at Progreso played this young man and he was not eligible according to all the processes that are in place….The coaches are responsible for knowing the rules and following the rules. Had they done that and PAPF gone through, I can see no scenario in which he would have been allowed to play. This young man just admitted that he changed schools for two reasons. One was the family issue and the second issue was that he was not going to be able to play soccer at Palmview. He’s played all year long as ineligible.”
“When you receive new students, you call the previous coach,” Motheral said, in order to find out why the student left the school. “Had your coach done that, he would have recognized the fact that he was going to be ineligible…. That goes back to your coach.”
Coronado stated that “At the time he was told no in Palmview, he went back to a district that he was originally eligible (Progreso) play in, adding that ruling him ineligible at Progreso was “punishing him twice. He came back within the 30 days.
“Half of our community traveled four hours,” Coronado said. “Our team traveled four hours. It’s hard to take a punishment for the students when the adult was the one who made the mistake. Everything we are arguing is because of the PAPF.”
“There’s a lot to these allegations that we will have to sort through. We are trying to sort through the most straightforward ones that we could.…This isn’t a paperwork issue. It is a process issue that didn’t happen because the paperwork was not filed. We have to worry about all the kids, including the kids on the teams that did follow the rule.”
Motheral ruled that the student was ineligible for the entire year, “which makes tonight’s game unnecessary.”
“We will deal with the coach a little bit later on,” he added.
Nolte said that the failure to fill out the PAPF was more than just paperwork, “It circumvented processes. It is not a paperwork issue. It is a process issue.”