[KMSFA2]

The week prior to the playoff committee meeting, the co-coordinator emailed several schools who had not submitted required paperwork. Several replied that they had not done so because they had changed their minds and would not be competing. Others were trying to work through scheduling of conference tournaments. Several decided to forgo their conference tournament and participate in the KMSFA state playoffs.

Middlesboro was emailed to MULTIPLE recipients 3 times that week with no response. They did not submit 2 things - a verified roster before September 1st (as outlined in the rules) nor a win/loss submission form by 10/3 (as outlined in the 2013 KMSFA Playoff System PowerPoint - which when asked, the head middle school coach stated he had never read).

We have over 100+ member schools. Coaches have 1 program to worry about. For a coach to mail a $250 check and go 2 months without communicating (no matter who's fault it might be) is a bit hard to comprehend for most folks. Add in that most of the opponents in that conference are KMSFA members, it's also hard to believe that no other coaches talked about the state playoffs for the last 2-3 months there? You want to talk about coincidence? How about us being notified coincidentally the day following the brackets being released?

Again, the board takes no joy in making this decision. At this very hour we are still awaiting answers to the 4th or 5th option we've tried to find. Schools being on Fall break simply provide an obstacle for us time-wise. We are running a state wide tournament here. It's a shame, it truly is. But for us to bend over backwards for a program that wasn't willing to complete the required paperwork is tough. We're trying, but at the same time we have to face the truth here.

Last question - if you get a $1000 rebate and it says on it "must use by December 31st", how can you be mad if you take it in on January 1st and they won't honor it?

There's a lesson to be taught here. It's accountability and responsibility. Could we have communicated better? Absolutely. Could the coach have taken some inititiative on his programs part? Absolutely. The difference there is one half of that story isn't being told.