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UHSAA punishes Bingham principal, Hillcrest drill team

This was expected. Since when has the UHSAA done anything proactive for the association? Okay folks, its okay to break whatever rule you want, the pricetag is a mere 500 dollars. Pennys when it comes to how expensive drill can be.

This is a sad ruling! I work at a Utah HS, NOT directly involved, and the kids at my school told me about the 'changes' which violated the rules. They said nothing would be done and they were right! It's too bad the UHSAA would rather levy blame on people who open their mouths and point out honest issues, rather than punish, and I mean really punish, those who violate the rules, which many call 'cheating'!

This just shows what is wrong with society. A team cheats, admits it, but we slap the wrist and say don't do it again. This is why we cut education but build more prisons. Of course, I would cut education as well for obviously, we aren't very smart. That is why we say "don't cheat" because it's a fact that cheaters prosper!

Being from another school, I applaud Mr. Hicks. I was at the meet and everyone that knows anything about drill, saw what took place. A blatant attempt to win at all costs. It's about time someone stood up and took a stand vs. those that try and win the wrong way. A great lesson can be learned from Principal Hicks!

How did this "investigation" become more focused on the principal than Hillcrest's blatant cheating? Did they ever look at the judge's scoring discrepancies?

Typical UHSAA....Too afraid of the public backlash to actually take a stand on an issue...Weak minded people that feels threatened when someone other than a UHSAA employee tries to do something to better High School activities....Their incompetence makes me sick, and I can't believe that more people to do stand up against them.....Down with the UHSAA!

Any respect that the UHSAA had has evaporated! Protecting an official at any cost, under any circumstance, will not raise the standard of officiating at any level. And the victory of Hillcrest will always be remembered as 'tainted'.

...and what does all this matter? And will someone tell me how, in this country, we make rules prohibiting criticism? Isn't that the American way? I guess that's where Al Gore is coming from.

My goodness, who cares if someone criticizes the officials? Who really cares? And in an event that is determined solely by the judges, those judges should be subject to review, and criticism.

A school CHEATS - breaks the rules - GETS TO KEEP the State Championship title and the person who had the courage to bring this to the "governing body" of Utah high school athletics is the one who they punish and focus on!!! This is crazy. Anyone who watches and understand drill saw how Hillcrest broke the rules. Why bother with rules - especially if they get to keep the title after it being PROVEN that these rules were broken.

can't believe i would support bingham, but if its a basketball game, can you change the rules and give a kid say, 6 fouls instead of 5? mr hicks was right, and hillcrest basically cheated, improved their routine and won...competitions that are judged are already very difficult to determine a winner as opposed to other sports....put an astrisk by the hillcrest trophy because they earned it the wrong way!

I have a difficult time believing Hillcrest's coaches were not aware of the 16 count rule and violated it accidentally. Hillcrest's drill team is annually a contender for top state awards.

Even if the coaches were negligent in their knowledge of the rules, the UHSAA's refusal to enforce the rules is incomprehensible. Hillcrest's win should be invalidated. They broke the rules that everyone else had to follow.

Additionally, the judges brought in to judge these competitions should know the rules as well. If they don't understand the rules, then they are incompetent. If they do understand the rules, and ignore them, then there is validity in the concerns Principal Hicks brought up.

It would appear the UHSAA is more concerned about muzzling criticism than ensuring schools that compete in these competitions behave ethically and adhere to the rules that have been established.

Boo/Hiss at Hillcrest for cheating. Shame on the UHSAA for letting them get away with it.

From the article it appears that the Hillcrest coaches admitted that they made a mistake! A mistake is not cheating - have you ever seen that rule book? It's huge and very difficult to keep track of every single rule and it's not very clear. 16 kicks or 16 counts? How can people say NOTHING was done? Folks were dragged into a hearing, they admitted they made a mistake, they were fined and put on probation - how is that nothing? This has gone on for months, reported in the media - how is that nothing? It may not be the outcome you wanted but it's not nothing! A principal taking his concerns to the proper comittee is the correct action - making false accusations in public as a principal is not!

The UHSAA blew it. Here they had a situation where they could really make a statement and put schools on notice about improper behavior and the consequences thereof, but instead they just opened the door for more of the same problem. Now a school that cheats can just say, "Well Hillcrest did it and still won, so why can't we?" They want Utah students to learn that dishonesty brings dire consequences, but then they let a team keep a championship that was awarded based on dishonesty? HUH? Then they fine Mr. Hicks for violation of sportsmanship for speaking the truth? Um....CHEATING is the biggest violation of sportsmanship there is!! Hillcrest does not deserve the title. They know it and everyone else does, too. What a joke.

Brighton finished 2nd NATIONALLY.

...is out of control on almost all levels. Parents need to get a grip and be less hands on and the pressure from administrators to coaches could be lessened as well...I guess the same could be said for many of the activities within the HS arena. Work hard, compete, learn lessons, go home, scrapbook it, and move on with life. This is High school.

MISTAKE! I'm a coach of another sport and I KNOW THE RULES! This is the peak of competition in this area in the State! To be a State Champion you have to know what you're doing! You don't "luck" into it! They violated to rules for a reason. What that reason was I don't know! I do know that as a coach I make adjustments, WITHIN THE RULES!, to allow for team success. I'm sure the Hillcrest coaches were no different! Don't even try to pass this off as just a 'mistake'!! That's deserves a "Are you Kidding Me!"

As per nothing done remarks: all the talk in the world means nothing without action! Time and money was spent, discussions held, and in the end it all meant nothing. A principal is lighter in the wallet, as are a few coaches. Money can't 'make it right' for those athletes who were denied a State Championship because of a violation of the rules!

And... If the accusations made in public are true... more power to the principal! Based upon the ruling against the Hillcrest coaches, the accusations were true - NOT FALSE!

What punishment do you people think would have been appropriate for Hillcrest? They were punished, what more do you want done?

unbelievable!! Hilcrest dragged themselves into this when they "made their mistake" (cheating) and the fact that UHSAA has turned this into a money maker off a principal who genuinely cared about his team and the fairness of the sport is disgraceful. These rules have been in place for many years, and the coaches are well aware of how it works. Maybe the rules on how a principal is not supposed to be supportive of his/her teams should be made more clear. Bingham students are lucky to have the support of their princial and what a message UHSAA has conveyed. Now who fines them for their "unsportsman like conduct" in condenming the man for standing up for what was right? Shame on Hilcrest and even more shame on the UHSAA!!!

Interesting the different approaches to discipline. The soccer gal from Riverton that was stripped of her wins at a track meet because she competed in too many events. It was an honest "mistake", but that didn't stop them from taking away her victories. Or what about the girl that roled her shorts in a track meet? It was an honest "mistake", but she too was stripped of her achievement in State last year. A rule is a rule as was stated on this site many times. This seems like a double standard to me. The other part that frustrates me is punishing the "whistle blower". There are rules against this too. The principal didn't make false accusations, but asked for a review of the circumstances. It all starts with what the winning team did that may have caused the judging to be tainted. Once again....a rule is a rule. It needs to be enforced.

UHSAA at least be consistent in your enforcement of the rules. I am sure the gals/schools that ran track would have willingly paid a small fine to keep their wins.

I think the key point in this article isn't whether or not the judge cheated, but the fact that a team or its coaches did! An open and admitted breach of the rules which would have forfeited a basketball, football or other sports team's win was over looked and only the coaches were punished? I know it wasn't the students fault they were just doing what they were instructed to do but that doesn't mean the team should be spared and the coaches slapped on the wrist. In their first year of participation in the UHSAA American Leadership Academy won two football games. Both wins were stripped from the team because A COACH let an ineligible player play in those games. The team paid the price as they should have, as Hillcrest should have had their wins at the state competition taken from them. Yes it's unfair, but since when is life fair? In any team sport or activity you choose by being on that team to not only share in the glory but also the embarrassment and shame when someonebe it a coach or teammate cheats!