On October 15, 2019, Fort Scott Community College (FSCC) was contacted by the national office at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) regarding a formal complaint from a non-conference school that had been filed regarding the eligibility of a student-athlete on the FSCC football team.
Further investigation confirmed that FSCC had obtained a release and a transfer tracking form for the student, but was lacking a transfer waiver form which results in a violation of NJCAA by-laws.
On October 18th, FSCC obtained the signed form and the student will be eligible to play for the remainder of the season.
The ruling from the NJCAA went through an appeal process, and the appeal was rejected. Sanctions from the NJCAA state the FSCC will forfeit the games that the student appeared.
This was an honest, administrative error that the coaches and player had no knowledge. There was no malicious intent to violate NJCAA by-laws, and there was no benefit for the team to not acquiring the form. FSCC is committed to refining the eligibility process to ensure that this type of event never occurs again.