Florida High School Athletic Association upholds Braden River, North Port suspensions, adds fines

MANATEE -- Seven Braden River and North Port high school student suspensions were upheld and the two schools face additional penalties, after the Florida High School Athletic Association concluded its investigation into a postgame fight between football players Oct. 2.

On Friday, the FHSAA upheld the four-game suspensions -- five for North Port and two for Braden River -- levied earlier by the Manatee and Sarasota school districts, while issuing additional penalties.

The fight broke out between players after a Class 7A-District 11 football game in North Port, which Braden River won 42-7.

Those penalties include a $250 fine to Braden River for an unsportsmanlike conduct policy violation. The Pirates were reprimanded and placed on administrative and restrictive probations.

The fine will not be paid with district or taxpayer money, Manatee County athletics director Jason Montgomery said. It can come out of money the athletic department has raised or money from the individual sport.

"It has to be paid with money they've brought in," Montgomery said.

The fine could escalate to $1,000 should there be additional policy violations with the football program before the end of the 2016-17 school year when the administrative and restrictive probations end.

Under administrative probation, the school is reprimanded, fined and served a warning. Any more violations during the probation could result in penalties such as expulsion for the players.

As part of the restrictive probation, each Braden River varsity football player must individually complete an approved FHSAA sportsmanship program by Nov. 12.

North Port incurred the same FHSAA penalties as Braden River.

Montgomery said he expected the FHSAA fines. He said he was pleased the FHSAA did not further punish the players because that meant it approved of the way the districts handled it.

"That's what we wanted. We wanted to make sure we were handling the players appropriately," he said.

The fight happened at about 9:40 p.m. when three North Port players exited the home team locker room and approached a few Braden River players either standing on the sidewalk leading to the parking lot exit or walking to the team bus with equipment, according to an incident report obtained by the Bradenton Herald.

A verbal exchange escalated into a 90-second fight. Sarasota County staff interviews indicated a Braden River player "threw the first punch," but video surveillance could not substantiate it, according to the incident report.

The suspensions prohibit the two Pirates from playing in three games.

The names of the players suspended were blacked out in the report given to the Herald.

Braden River is undergoing immediate review of all home- and road-game procedures for teams exiting the field at halftime and at the end of the game, according to the FHSAA report.

Meghin Delaney, education reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7081. Follow her on Twitter@MeghinDelaney.

This story was originally published October 16, 2015 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Florida High School Athletic Association upholds Braden River, North Port suspensions, adds fines ."