Naming names regarding grades issues

Wait a minute, Boobie. The coach said they are in jeopardy of being ineligible. That is not a story until they are declared ineligible.
Now, if they aren't practicing and you ask the coach why and he says, they have academic issues to settle before than play...that's a story.

 

"Team rules violation" is an umbrella term that connotes improper behavior or lawlessness. So I don't think that's the way to go.
The reporter's not at fault if the coach failed to realize his comments were flirting with violations of federal law. Whether you go with it depends on how big that HS FB team is to your readership. Probably not worth it if it's one of 50 HS in your area, but it's not unethical to write it under any circumstances.
One possible way around it: "Coach Jimbo Wallace said he doesn't expect Johnny Marr or Stephen Morrissey to play this season. Wallace declined to specify the cause of the players' absence, but it doesn't appear to be related to the law. An online check of county court dockets did not turn up Marr or Morrissey."

 

uh, no. now you're printing a lie since "wallace" didn't decline to specify. and the rest of the stuff you're including there is just muddying the waters and possibly contributing to rumors about a kid. why on earth would you even include anything about the law when that was never in question?

 

To cover the "violated team rules" thing, I try to clarify with the coach or athletic director - did the kid violate team rules? school rules? district rules? state high school association rules?

 

I agree that it's not a story until the players are off the team but it was a practice story and the biggest story by far coming from the team's practice was the absence of its top two returning offensive producers due to academic issues.

Perhaps a bigger story is how the school superintendant in our county as raised the qualifying score on end-of-grade tests for athletic participation two points higher than the state of N.C. requires. I've had several coaches mutter their disatisfaction with that policy. Maybe it's time to see if one will speak on the record.

 

Now you're talking, stupid.

If these two kids are not practicng it has to be mentioned that they are not there because of academic issues (further details not necessary).

If those problems -- and similar problems at other schools -- are related to a County eligibility requirement that is higher than the State requirement, that's worth a major piece on the effect of the new requirements on a number of teams.