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Two more athletes at Immokalee are over-age
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IMMOKALEE Blandel Jean sounded prophetic. The 30-year-old — one of three over-age men discovered participating on Immokalee High athletic teams — didn’t want to be singled out.
WEBIFIED
- PODCAST: Hear an in-depth report about the discovery of a fourth and fifth over-age student athlete at Immokalee High School, which won't cause the Florida High School Athletic Association to reopen an investigation.
- VODCAST: Watch 'Studio 55' for expanded coverage
- LETTER: Letter from the FHSAA to principal Manny Touron PDF | JPEG
- DOCUMENTS: FHSAA investigation documents (PDF)
- RELATED: Decision on Touron punishment may come next week (6/9/06)
- RELATED: Indians can't be stripped of their pride (6/9/06)
- RELATED: Collier coaches offer up sympathy (6/9/06)
- RELATED: Transferring not much of an option for Immokalee students (6/9/06)
- RELATED: School Board members say punishment was just (6/8/06)
- RELATED: Estero soccer coach: Forfeiting games OK, but probation goes too far (6/8/06)
- RELATED: Over-age Immokalee High student, player apologizes (6/8/06)
“I’m not the only one,” Jean said Thursday. “There are others who shouldn’t be in high school and others who are too old to play sports.”
Jean said this before he heard the news that Indian teammates Clotaire Joseph and Fredo Selbonne were both over-age. Joseph and Selbonne are the fourth and fifth players from the Immokalee soccer team to violate the Florida High School Athletic Association rule prohibiting anyone over the age of 19 years and 9 months to participate in athletics.
Joseph was born March 15, 1985, according to a public records search, and would have been ineligible to play on the soccer team the past two seasons. Selbonne, listed as a junior midfielder, was born February 1986, according to public records, making him ineligible for the 2005-06 season.
Jean said he had no idea Joseph or Selbonne were over-age.
Joseph starred for the Indians, scoring 35 goals and recording 19 assists this past season. His accomplishments on the field earned him a spot on the state all-star team and the title of Naples Daily News Soccer Player of the Year.
Now, Joseph and Selbonne’s names are added, along with Jean, 23-year-old Josh Jean-Mary and 20-year-old Sinel Uylsse, to this growing controversy.
Linda Abbott, a Collier County School Board member, fears this will not be the last over-age athlete uncovered. Abbott worries this recent rash of incidents isn’t isolated to Immokalee. Jean said he thinks there are other over-age athletes at other Collier County schools.
“They are probably everywhere,” Abbott said of the over-age students. “It’s crazy.”
Abbott said the School District should address the problem immediately. She suggested that the record of every student should be investigated. She added that better admission policies need to be addressed.
“I think the system failed,” Abbott said, “and the School Board is where the buck stops. This development has adversely affected so many innocent people.”
Manny Touron, the principal at Immokalee High, has professed his innocence. Yet, as the assistant soccer coach, Touron remains in the center of this dilemma. Touron met with Collier County Superintendent Ray Baker on Thursday to discuss the fines and penalties the FHSAA handed down Wednesday.
Touron is holding a press conference at 9 a.m. today at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Administrative Center. Earlier this week, Touron said he’ll accept any punishment Baker hands down. Touron has already relinquished his soccer coaching duties.
FHSAA Commissioner John Stewart said that the news of a fourth over-age athlete at Immokalee will not cause his office to reopen the investigation into the incident. But Immokalee High could face more fines and sanctions, Stewart said.
“You can’t have them forfeit games and trophies that they have already forfeited,” Stewart said.
Stewart said if another member school or Immokalee High itself reports this additional infraction, the Indians could face additional fines and sanctions. Immokalee was fined $1,000 for each of the three over-age students originally discovered. The soccer team was also put on probation for two seasons, which prohibits them from participating in the post-season.
Stewart didn’t rule out the fact that the Immokalee program could face more fines.
CLOSER LOOK AT IMMOKALEE
- DOCUMENT: Read the school's plan to comply with age requirements (.pdf)
- LETTER: Read the letter of reprimand to Principal Manny Touron
- VODCAST: Watch 'Studio 55' for expanded coverage
- AUDIO: John Weber's reaction to the FHSAA sanctions
- PODCAST: Hear an in-depth report about the discovery of a fourth and fifth over-age student athlete at Immokalee High School, which won't cause the Florida High School Athletic Association to reopen an investigation.
- LETTER: Letter from the FHSAA to principal Manny Touron PDF | JPEG
- DOCUMENTS: FHSAA investigation documents (pdf)
- RELATED: Principal will confirm athletes' birth certificates (08-12-06)
- RELATED: Matheus no longer coaching Indians (08-09-06)
- RELATED: Touron could face state investigation (06-13-06)
- RELATED: Brent Batten: Penalties to students for lapses of coaches? (06-11-06)
- RELATED: Immokalee won't appeal sanctions (06-10-06)
- EXPANDED COVERAGE: Find more video reports, podcasts and additional stories
Stewart did reveal that Immokalee High avoided stiffer financial fines in the first offenses. He said normally the school is fined $100 for each game that each over-age athlete participated in. In this case, the fine for Jean — who played on the soccer team for three seasons and the football team for four games of the 2005 season — could have been nearly $10,000.
“We tried to simplify the process and made it $1,000 per athlete,” Stewart said.
Stewart said that an additional $1,000 fine for each athlete discovered at Immokalee is possible.
“It’s like if you get a speeding ticket and before you go to the judge you get another speeding ticket,” Stewart said. “The judge can only rule on the first speeding ticket. We will rule on any further infractions when they are presented to us. I’m not going to make a ruling over the phone on information that has been presented to us by a member school.”
The FHSAA also forced the Indians to forfeit two soccer district titles (2004 and 2005) soccer and the 2005 football district title.
Jean felt deeply sorry about the thought of Immokalee losing its accolades.
“I want to tell everyone I’m sorry,” Jean said. “If I had the money I would buy the trophies back because they truly earned them.”
Jean said that Joseph was a quiet person, who kept to himself. Joseph graduated with the rest of the Immokalee seniors on May 26 at the Harborside Convention Center in Fort Myers. Collier County rules allow a 21-year-old to graduate as long as their birthday is in the final semester.
“He’s not a leader with his voice, but if we went into the game, and Clotaire was stuck on the sidelines, there would be a little bit of panic,” Touron said early this year.
“I’ve volunteered my time for this team for 13 years, and he’s the player I’ll mostly miss for what he’s done for this program.”
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Staff writer Andy Kent contributed to this story.

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