Encinal High Letter to Community Following Announcement of Island Bowl Forfeiture

Letter to the Encinal Community re: the Football Game on Friday, September 26

It is truly an honor to serve our students. As educators, it is our privilege to know each of them by name. Each day, we
are grateful for the opportunity to come to Encinal High School – not because of brick and mortar – but because of the
students who are the lifeblood of the Encinal community.

Encinal students are smart, funny, kind, compassionate, loud, silly, and beautiful. They are driven, focused, inspired,
passionate, infuriating, ridiculous, and wonderful. But like all adolescents, they sometimes make mistakes, especially
when their youth clouds their judgment and their emotions get the better of them. When that happens, we try to
understand the behavior – but we do not condone it.

On Friday night, in a football game against Center High School, members of the Encinal team made a mistake. An
egregious one. Following a hard, but legal, football play, one of our players reacted in an unsportsmanlike manner,
leading to a fight on the field. Both benches cleared, a violation of California Interscholastic Federation rules. Most
players who ran onto the field knew they shouldn’t. But they were acting to protect their teammates, to defend their
brothers, to restore order.

Related: Fight on Field Prompts Encinal High School to Forfeit Island Bowl

Unfortunately, in the moment, some also crossed well over the line of a CIF rules violation, becoming aggressors and sullying what Encinal High School stands for: scholarship, sportsmanship, and community. It is much easier to stand by our students, or any teenager, when they do something great.

However, it is when they struggle or make a mistake that they need us the most. And we will stand by them, by continuing to love and honor them, and by showing them, through the actions we take now as adults, that even if we love and support them, especially when we love and support them, there are consequences for one’s choices and impulsive actions.

The Encinal Administration, Athletic Department, and Football Program have conferred about what happened last Friday
night and have decided that the Varsity Football team will forfeit its next game, the Island Bowl. We recognize the Island
Bowl is part of the fabric of Alameda. We understand the sense of loss many will feel as a result of our decision to forfeit
the game. But, as a community, we need to support each other by holding one another accountable and by taking steps,
however difficult, to teach young people to make better choices and to take responsibility for their actions.

In addition, we have decided that:

• Active participants in the altercation will be disciplined by the school.
• All players who left the bench will receive a minimum of a one game suspension, pursuant to CIF rules.
• The school will endorse all other sanctions, penalties, and/or fines issued by the CIF.
• All members of the Encinal High School Football Varsity team will participate in community service with local
organizations focused upon violence prevention.
• All proceeds of the gate from Friday night’s game will be given to the victims of the recent Alameda arson fires.

Please join us on Friday, October 3, 2014, at 6:00 p.m. when the EHS JV football team takes on the Alameda Hornets JV squad in a celebration of high school athletics, our respective schools, and our community.

Sincerely,

Kirsten Zazo, Amy Frey, Tracy Allegrotti
Administration
Encinal High School

Micki Singer
Athletic Director
Encinal High School

Sean McPhetridge
Interim Superintendent
Alameda Unified School District

Ricky Rodriguez
Head Football Coach
Encinal High School

Information submitted by Encinal High School