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Every year since 1998, John Weber has led the Immokalee Indians football team to the playoffs. This coming season, Weber can plan an unwanted vacation for the first week of December.

Immokalee has no chance at the postseason if it adheres to Friday’s decision not to appeal the Florida High School Athletic Association’s decision to ban the football team from the playoffs. And Weber isn’t happy about the development.

On Friday morning, Immokalee High Principal Manny Touron announced that the school will not appeal any of the fines and sanctions handed down by the FHSAA on Wednesday for using over-age athletes. The deadline for an appeal is 10 days after the FHSAA ruled.

“I’m extremely disappointed about this decision,” said Weber, who led the Indians to the 2004 Class 2A State Championship.

The Indians soccer team received a stiffer penalty: two years of probation which includes no postseason participation. But the three men — 30-year-old Blandel Jean, 23-year-old Josh Jean-Mary and 20-year-old Sinel Ulysse — originally discovered with ages older than the FHSAA’s age rule participated in soccer for the past three seasons. Student-athletes are ineligible after they turn 19 years, 9 months.

The Naples Daily News has since discovered two more over-age athletes — 21-year-old Clotaire Joseph and 20-year-old Fredo Selbonne — participated on the soccer team that won back-to-back district titles. The FHSAA has said it will not reopen the investigation, but could impose further sanctions, such as additional fines.

Only Jean played on the football team. And he played sparingly as a placekicker.

Jean joined the football team two-thirds of the way through the 2005 season only after star placekicker Moise Saintil suffered an injury. Jean played in two regular-season games for the Indians. In both games Immokalee easily defeated its opponent and Jean played an insignificant role.

The Indians roughed up Golden Gate, 48-10, and Jean had six extra points. The Indians clobbered Palmetto Ridge, 51-0, the following week and Jean added six more extra points and a 39-yard field goal. In both games, take away Jean’s contribution and the Indians still win handily.

Saintil returned the next week and Weber kept Jean on the roster.

Weber said he let Jean kick extra points during the postseason as a “thank you” for coming out to help the team. Saintil, who kicked a game-winning 43-yard field goal to lift the Indians to the 2004 state championship, was healthy enough to perform all the kicking duties in the playoffs.

Jean acknowledged that he came out for football, a sport he had never played before, to help out his schoolmates.

“I only wanted to help the football team and my friend Moise,” Jean said. “I never intended to hurt the team.”

Weber is heading to Las Vegas today to work a football camp and isn’t sure this is a good time to leave with the 2006 season in limbo.