Bishop Diego’s undefeated football team, ranked No. 1 in the Southern Section’s Northwest Division, will not be hosting any CIF playoff games in Santa Barbara this season due to a sanction imposed by CIF officials.
The Cardinals learned on Sunday morning that they will travel to face at-large team South Torrance in Friday’s opening round.
Bishop Diego’s Head of School Paul Harrington released a statement on Sunday explaining the situation. Here is an excerpt:
On October 1st of this year the C.I.F. Southern Section began an investigation into perceived violations by Bishop Diego of C.I.F. Bylaw 510, which references undue influence. At the heart of the matter was a flyer that was created for an Admissions event inviting 8th graders from throughout Santa Barbara to join us on campus for Spirit Day activities as well as the Homecoming football game taking place later that same day. I want to reiterate that this invitation was for an Admissions event that in no way targeted student athletes. It was a means of generating interest in our school for general enrollment purposes and there were no presentations discussing, referencing, or highlighting our athletic program whatsoever. Despite the fact that this same flyer was used in ads run in the Santa Barbara News Press and online, when it was made available to members of a local YFL team by the team mom/assistant who has no student at and no affiliation or connection with our school, C.I.F. officials deem that a line was crossed resulting in the sanction mentioned above.
As a matter of school policy we diligently educate our coaches and staff regarding permissible actions that can be engaged in without violating the undue influence rules, relying regularly on the summary sheet of “Do’s” and “Don’t’s” prepared by C.I.F. The C.I.F. findings in this matter do not find any misconduct by any of our staff or coaches in violation of C.I.F. rules. I stand behind our coaching staff and can assure you that we, as a Catholic school rooted in sound ethics and moral values, always play by the rules.
The Cardinals football team reached the postseason with a record of 10-0. It’s the first undefeated regular season in school history.
