Players empty a cooler onto Barbe coach Glenn Cecchini after the Bucs defeated Rummel in the Class 5A championship game. (Associated Press)
Barbe fined $500 for celebration shower
Last Modified: Thursday, May 17, 2012 9:22 PM
By Rachel Whittaker / American Press
Apparently, even the Louisiana High School Athletic Association is willing to rain on the Barbe championship parade.
The Bucs found out the hard way Thursday that there is no title dousing allowed. Not even with water on a field that had been soaked by a weekend of rain showers.
The LHSAA fined Barbe $500 for breaking a bylaw that prohibits celebration showers after championship games. Executive Director Kenny Henderson ruled that Barbe violated an LHSAA policy when it jubilantly doused head coach Glenn Cecchini with water on Tulane University’s Turchin Stadium field after winning the Class 5A state baseball championship Sunday in New Orleans.
Rule 6.18.3 of the 2011-12 LHSAA Bylaws states “a team shall be prohibited from depositing dirt, sand, grass, liquid or any other foreign substance on the playing surface, to include the out-of-play area, prior to, during and/or after the playing of any game except for field preparation and/or maintenance.”
Cecchini was awestruck by the costly slap on the wrist.
“If we’re going to get fined for throwing water on the field, I think that’s absurd,” Cecchini said. “I don’t understand the reasoning for it. We work hard and do things right … but I have nobody to blame but myself. It’s my responsibility as the head coach.”
Henderson said the rule is not new and spans across all LHSAA sports.
He said it was installed to keep the fields in top condition for games that follow. However, Barbe’s game was the last LHSAA baseball event of the season let alone at the field.
“If we only had one game in all of our state championship events, it probably wouldn’t be a big deal,” Henderson said. “But we do not ever play just one game; we play multiple games and we have to look out for everybody else that plays after that.
“Everybody knows the rules. If they break a rule, we have to enforce it.”
The ruling on Barbe’s exact financial penalty stemmed from LHSAA Rule 5.11.8(2), which states “the school may be fined not to exceed $500.”
If Barbe decides to appeal the punishment, it must do so within 15 calendar days of the ruling.
Posted By: Jon Perkins On: 5/18/2012
Title: APPEAL
Since the LHSAA allowed Zachary back into the playoffs, then Barbe should appeal and the ruling be reversed.
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