Bishop Fenwick High School Sports Banned From 2023-24 MIAA Tournaments

PEABODY, MA — Bishop Fenwick High School athletes will be barred from all state tournaments and postseason competitions during the entire 2023-24 school year because of what the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association called a "pattern of conduct (that) was sufficiently serious, egregious and repeated" to warrant the yearlong ban.

The MIAA announced the decision in a statement released late Friday afternoon.

While the MIAA did not cite the specifics of the rules violations, the state's high school athletics governing body said that Bishop Fenwick — a school with a rich athletics traditions with perennial state title contenders — was found "in violation of MIAA Rule 87.6, which requires accountability from its members."

According to the MIAA, Bishop Fenwick's athletic director, principal and president were required to attend a hearing with the MIAA Board of Directors on May 17.

The MIAA said the Board then determined that Fenwick's administration had failed to comply with its rules in a way that warranted the state high school equivalent of the infamous NCAA "death penalty."

The MIAA said the Board of Directors voted unanimously to ban all Fenwick athletes from postseason competitions during the entire upcoming school year.

Most recently, the Bishop Fenwick softball team made it to the state semifinals this past spring.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)