Projo Sports Blog

PROVIDENCE – Although the R.I. Interscholastic League does not have any rules governing the actions of its student-athletes outside the realm of league sports competitions, executive director Tom Mezzanotte left no doubt that he wholeheartedly supports the action of La Salle Academy officials in their suspensions of some La Salle football players because of their conduct at a recent Bristol house party.

The football players were among a reported two dozen La Salle students who were suspended from school and barred from playing in sanctioned athletic activities after La Salle officials deemed they had violated the school’s code of ethics with their actions at the party.

''We totally support what La Salle is doing,'' Mezzanotte said today about the suspensions, which will cost the football players a chance to play in the annual Thanksgiving Day football game against East Providence at Pierce Stadium. The La Salle-East Providence game is Rhode Island’s oldest intra-state Thanksgiving Day football rivalry. This year’s game will be the 80th meeting between the two schools, dating back to 1927.

''We do not have a policy governing conduct away from our athletic events. We leave that to the discretion of the schools and school districts and we support the schools’ decisions,” said Mezzanotte.

According to the police report obtained today by the Journal, police were called to a home in Bristol at around 11 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 11 by a neighbor complaining of a loud house party. When they arrived, they noticed more than 20 youths on the property, some inside and some outside the house. Police also discovered a large quantity of beer and other alcohol. Police made one arrest, charging a 17-year-old girl with possession of alcohol by a minor.

La Salle principal Donald Kavanagh told the Journal that the suspended students “were present [at the party] and, in our opinion, if they weren’t participating [in underage drinking] they should have gotten up and left.'

The La Salle action comes in the wake of several recent fatalities in Rhode Island that have spotlighted the problem of underage drinking. Some of the students killed in the accidents were student athletes at their high schools.

In recent months some other schools have also suspended students from athletic and other extracurricular activities because of their conduct off school grounds.

Schools and school districts throughout the state have different rules regarding the suspension from extracurricular activities because of conduct off school grounds. Some schools do impose penalties for conduct at non-school related activities, others do not.

Mezzanotte said usually the rules and penalties are set forth in the school’s student handbook and parents must sign-off that they are aware of the regulations for the student to participate in high school sports.

''La Salle is taking the appropriate action to teach the students an important lesson. It is just and appropriate,” Mezzanotte said about the suspensions, which also included at least one day of suspension from school for each student.

''We support the school for taking a stand,” Mezzanotte added.

Although the Thanksgiving Day game will have no bearing in qualifying for the Interscholastic League Division I playoffs, which get under way next week, the game traditionally draws the largest crowd of any Rhode Island high school Thanksgiving Day football game.

If the weather is good a crowd of 3,000-4,000 is expected at Pierce. The Thanksgiving game normally draws a much larger crowd than any of the playoff games.

“For our kids, this is a big deal,” La Salle athletic director Ted Quigley said on Tuesday about playing in the Thanksgiving Day game.

The suspended players will be allowed to rejoin the team for La Salle’s opening-round playoff game Tuesday night against Hendricken in Warwick.

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