Ann Arbor Public Schools officials meeting Monday to determine next steps in aftermath of football brawl
Related story: Top 5: Considerations for Ann Arbor as officials resolve Friday's high school football brawl
Ann Arbor Public Schools officials will meet Monday morning with the principals, athletic directors and administrators of Huron and Pioneer high schools to determine what the next course of action will be for those involved in an on-field fight involving players and coaches after Friday night's football game between the schools.
According AAPS director of communications Liz Margolis, Huron and Pioneer athletic directors Dottie Davis and Eve Claar are expected to present their findings on what happened during the fight and give their recommendations on what actions should be taken.
Davis and Claar each said that they would be reviewing the tapes over the weekend to determine which players and coaches were involved in the fight.
There will be a meeting on Monday between Ann Arbor Public Schools officials to determine a course of action for those involved in Friday's brawl.
Daniel Brenner | AnnArbor.com
Margolis also said that if any sort of disciplinary measures are taken against players or coaches, those consequences may not immediately be made available to the public because of privacy laws concerning students and teachers.
She said AAPS would attempt to release as much information as they can to the public.
‘We’re going to try to be as open as we can with this,” Margolis said.
The meeting is a result of a massive brawl that occurred after Pioneer defeated Huron 35-6 Friday at Huron’s Riverbank Stadium.
During the game both teams were called for numerous unsportsmanlike conduct penalties as emotions intensified throughout the game. None of the unsportsmanlike conduct penalties appeared to be out of the ordinary for a crosstown rivalry game, as most of the penalties were the result of pushing after the play.
But as the game wound down, Huron head coach Cory Gildersleeve became upset with Pioneer head coach Paul Test for continuing to attempt to score even though Pioneer was ahead by 29 points with under a minute to play in the game.
After the final whistle blew, the coaches met at midfield for the traditional post-game handshake and that’s where things got ugly.
According to multiple accounts including Test's, Gildersleeve pushed Test. When one of Test’s assistant coaches saw the push he struck Gildersleeve.
Gildersleeve has vehemently denied pushing Test.
As a result of the fight one Huron player was sent to the hospital to receive stitches.
Ann Arbor police are still investigating the fight, and according to Lt. Renee Bush, detectives will begin reviewing the footage on Monday or Tuesday of this week before determining if any criminal charges need to be filed.
The Michigan High School Athletic Association may also discipline players and coaches based on the referee's reports of the game. According to MHSAA rules, the officials still have jurisdiction over the contest even after the game is completed.
If the officials determined that any player or coach needed to be ejected from the contest, those ejected would not be eligible for Friday's regular season finales.
Pioneer is 5-3 on the year and a win Friday would guarantee the Pioneers a berth in the state playoffs. Pioneer plays Livonia Franklin Friday night at Franklin High School. Huron is 0-8 on the year and plays on the road against Westland John Glenn on Friday.
Mat Durr covers sports for AnnArbor.com.
Comments
Dietrich Trott
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 6:44 p.m.
It appears the the AAPS, it's athletic departments, and the Ann Arbor community at large have all consumed the national Kool Aid of "sports above all". Well, go get 'em Pioneers and River Rats! And good luck with that after high school. I recall a mid-1960s chant voiced by the Mathematics Club at old AAHS when they were being accosted in the halls by knuckle dragging varsity football team members with the tacit approval of their cretinous coaches. And it went like this: e to the x, the x, the x; e to the x, the x. tangent, secant, co-sine, sine; 3 point 14159* YAAAY MATHEMATICS! * ?
David Cahill
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:46 p.m.
The school system should not rely on its own investigation. This brawl should be investigated by MHSAA, an outside and unbiased group.
Jumbo
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:58 p.m.
Dave, anybody involved with this game should be looking at themselves. Including the MHSAA. Officials are not off the hook on this one. Game was out of hand well before the end of regulation.
81wolverine
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:28 p.m.
Although I don't agree with Coach Test's decision to throw the ball ahead by 29 with a minute left (it's not a positive example of good sportsmanship for the kids at this level), all of the coaches needed to show a lot more control and class than what they did. I have no doubts their behavior and bad example after the game sparked the entire brawl by the players.
harold treeton
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:26 p.m.
People are basing this off of stories and rumors. Who was even there? I happen to be involved in the program and know what's really going on. A lot of you guys comment disrespecting the football programs and coaches. I find this extremely offensive. What happened, happened, and yes it was an extremely tragic event, but when uninformed adults start commenting on this article disrespecting ann arbor athletics all it does is add to the tragedy. Coach Test taught me to be a man, he taught me to have class, and he definitely didn't teach me to do what happened last Friday. I think you should all take a step back and look at what happened. How is Huron the victim? Even if Pioneer ran up the score its football! A coach can't lose control of his temper because his team isn't good enough to compete.
Mark Paxton
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:35 p.m.
I hope your for real young man and not someone showing off!
Mark Paxton
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:19 p.m.
As an old High School sports official from way back it never surprises me when these incidents happen. What surprises me is how everyone that 'NOTHING TO DO WITH IT" or weren't even at the game to witness the event are suddenly experts on the issue. I personally hold the Coaches responsible for this entire issue regardless of who started or finished it. No coach should have started it and no coach should have reacted to anything that was done to him or a fellow coach. By doing so he is telling his/her players that their behavior is acceptable. Unless a player committed a grievous offense I would not expel them from a game considering who started the Malay.
EyeHeartA2
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:22 p.m.
Voices of reason: 1 Crowd with torches and pitchforks: 2,341,758,432,760,376
calmic
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 4:09 p.m.
Great opportunity to entirely eliminate this barbaric 'sport' from our school system. The resources can be much better used in other arenas that do not involve the purposeful infliction of bodily harm.
Mark Paxton
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:14 p.m.
Some of the best lessons I have ever learned in my life were on the sports fields of battle. It prepared me for real life when I went into the milatary during Viet Nam. Sometimes you win and sometime you lose in real life too.
15crown00
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 2:50 p.m.
Huron coach has always been a little chippy.
15crown00
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 2:48 p.m.
both teams and everybody concerned should be ashamed.
WooHoo
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 2:47 p.m.
It is very simple, what is seen on the field is either taught or tolerated. A coach has a major impact on how these young men act and react. It is unfortunate that adults put young people in a situation like this. Kids learn how to react from what they witness adults do. If either of the coaches caused this situation to happen, they need to be dismissed immediately. It is too bad, because football can teach young men a ton of lessons about life and how to persevere. Coaches can do a lot of damage that will carry on to the future generations of the players they coach now.
mssomebodynice
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 2:36 p.m.
I know several Pioneer students who have admitted to yelling into the Huron locker room during half time. They admitted saying horrible things. I do believe that Coach Test is good to his team and parents but what he presents outside to other teams is something else. That is a fact. I have seen it myself and so have many I know. He should be ashamed of his obnoxious behavior and what he did at the end of this game is a good exsample of his sportsmanship. Scapegoating the freshman quarterback and blaming him for this manuver is typical of Coach Test. Winning at all costs??!! Really?! Obliterating because to him it isn't enough to win. Well he might 'rock Pioneer parents to sleep with his prayers before the games' those who have watched him over the years know better. Skyline had the same experience with him. His Asst. Coach is sad. Foul mouthed and he was the one who started the whole thing by hitting Coach Guildersleeve. He is the one who should be fired. The truth of all this will come out in the tapes that shows it all. They will fire the asst. coach of Pioneer. Coach Test is a very sneeky man. He doesn't rock this person to sleep and I am sure he can't pull the wool over Gods eyes either.
Elizabeth Drumright
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 4:17 p.m.
How you feel about Coach Tess is personal. That is not the issue or the facts. Bottom line Coach Guildershleeve should have kept his hands to himself. They have been having issues with Huron Coach for quite some time. This is what happen when you don't deal with people who are, as my father would say...TOUCHED!!! If Tess would have punched his lights out, he would have been in his rights to protect himself.
darre james
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 3:40 p.m.
God you are so right, test is a big deceiver.
Gerry
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 2:08 p.m.
When I moved to Jackson from a different state, I asked people where the best schools in the area were. Rather than sight academics, they listed which ones had the best football programs. There is nothing inherently wrong with football, but when it teaches bad lessons to kids, either through poor sportsmanship or by being elevated above academics, it should not be played in schools. At the very least, this needs to be a strong teaching moment.
Jasper
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:33 p.m.
Not sure why Paul Test is being scrutinized, for anything here, from the tape footage and the picture on Ann Arbor.com we can see who the aggressor is. All involved should be disciplined.
kathy coles
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 6:42 p.m.
Thank you for your response Jasper. I am still curious as to what tape you have seen. I was also at the game and from what we are being told as parents no footage as been released yet. As for the conversation that was taking place at the time of the picture being taken we have read what the paper said and also have been told something different
Jasper
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 5:26 p.m.
Ms. Coles-Yes I was at the game, and the pictures and the video footage of the game both reflect what I saw. The picture I was referring to was taken at the end of the game when everyone was lined up to shake hands. You can find the conversation in the other articles regarding this issue.
kathy coles
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 4:34 p.m.
I am just wondering what tape footage you have seen? I also wonder if you were actually at the game? Do you know when this picture was taken? Was it before or after the pushing took place. Do you know what either coach was saying? Pictures can be very deceiving, especially if one is not there in person to see what went on throughout the whole evening.
JGatson
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:55 p.m.
Agreed!
bluemax79
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:32 p.m.
the kid who kicked the huron player needs to be suspended from school and kicked off all sports teams for the year PERIOD. the kid who swung the crutch needs to have the same punishment. Huron's coach should be suspended for the remaining game they have to play, since they are 0-8 already he will likely be fired anyway. the pioneer coach should start having some class and start disciplining his players, whoever called for the passes at the end of the game should sit the next game out, the message needs to be WE HAVE CLASS, people with class do not try to run the score up in the last minute when the game is not in doubt.
kathy coles
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 4:41 p.m.
Not sure if the Pioneer athletes do any community service, but the Huron athletes do. They have for several years and have already done some this year with plans for more in the next couple of weeks. Our Huron football team has given time and money to several organizations this year, The Wounded Warrior Project, American Cancer Society and Avalon House to just name a few.
swimthis
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 2:07 p.m.
In Dexter, the football players go into the elementary schools and read books to children in grades k-2. Maybe some community service is what these players need? The coaching staff of both teams could use some lessons in humility. Perhaps some coaching time spent with kids who don't have the athletic ability to play. I.e., children with disabilities, prosthetics, etc., would be a helpful reminder that it's about teaching the game to kids, not serving or fulfilling your already heightened ego. It's time to stop being part of the game when you lost sight that it's for the kids.
towncryer
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:38 p.m.
excellent suggestions
jpud
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:31 p.m.
The problem with the meeting they are having today is that the Pioneer AD isn't likely to recommend discipline for the AD for allowing the Pioneer poor sportsmanship train to run amuck throughout Southeast Michigan for so long.
bunnyabbot
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:14 p.m.
I bet some people involved in fights don't even know what the fight was about. Both teams should have to forfeit their next game and sit together in an assembly about anger/fighting/stupidity etc. Anyone who posted on Twitter or Facebook about being in the fight should get afterschool detention for two weeks, maybe some kids will learn to stop posting everything. Finally, while it might be "unsportsman like" to continue to make plays and not run down the clock when you are way ahead too bad. A regualar game is 60 mins long, the loser might have to play the entire game. not pro Pioneer or Huron
Unusual Suspect
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:52 p.m.
I don't see any problem with continuing to run long pass plays. In football, 20 points is three scores, and anybody who has coached youth knows the kids are very capable of giving up three scores to the other team in mere seconds. It's not a safe lead.
bluemax79
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:34 p.m.
actually high school games are 48 minutes long and it was not that they were running plays, it was that they were throwing long passes when ahead by over 20 points, a running play would not have been an issue.
AMOC
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 12:29 p.m.
I am appalled that coaches and players all displayed such poor sportsmanship, and that my hard-earned tax money is being spent to teach our high school students this type of behavior. If I were in charge, I would immediately suspend all the adults who coach both teams from their jobs until the ADs and the police conclude their investigations, and forbid both teams from playing any further games this season. Any coach who is convicted of any criminal behavior during this incident should lose their teaching license and his (or her) job. Ann Arbor taxpayers, why are we allowing the school district to spend well over $3 million per year of taxpayer money, plus additional millions of "secret" booster club funds to teach our kids to be braggarts and hooligans?
EyeHeartA2
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 3:31 p.m.
@swimthis; Don't sully this thread with facts. Secret funds are much more interesting than working for what you want.
swimthis
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:33 p.m.
secret booster club funds? care to elaborate? the booster club funds for individual teams were EARNED by those teams through fundraising, team fees, hosting games, tournaments, etc. additional monies into the booster funds are from game/concession revenue, rental revenue, etc. please do share where this secret stash of cash is! gee I would really love to not have to fundraise thousands of dollars per season. again until you know the inside scoop don't make false statements. many sports are self-funded and only receiving limited funding for coaching. annarbor.com published years ago the budget breakdown for each school's athletic department and how the money was distributed.
gretta1
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 12:26 p.m.
It was with shock and great sadness that I read about the post game fight in Sunday's paper. I hope that full details are revealed eventually so that those responsible can be chastised in whatever way is deemed appropriate. Much of the angst I feel has to do with the fact that Paul Test is recognized by this parent as an absolutely fantastic teacher. At the elementary level, he taught our kids respect for one another, emphasized fair play, incorporated all aspects of learning into his gym classes and generally tried to encourage ALL kids to do their best. If we'd all had gym teachers like him, so many of us would have loved that class a lot more. It is with this knowledge of Mr. Test that I find it very, very difficult to believe he could be responsible for fostering any ugly culture in the locker room of Pioneer High School's football team. Maybe what I write will be very unpopular, but I hope all the facts are examined very closely. These 'kids' are not robots. They think and act on their own. If they were directed to behave aggressively off the field by a coach or mentor, that is truly a horrible breach of trust; but I cannot believe that Paul Test would have encouraged this in the slightest. He is just not that kind of person, but is rather an honorable, competitive and fair-minded individual. If it was kids acting on their own, please don't point fingers elsewhere. The 'it wasn't my fault' attitude is getting us in big trouble as a society. If the kids messed up, the kids messed up. Period.
kms
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:15 p.m.
This is about the only comment I've seen that supports Test. I've wondered about that. Most commentors seem to be siding with Huron although it does appear from multiple witnesses that it was Gildersleeve who started the brawl by pushing Test.
Nick Danger
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 11:20 a.m.
Paul test lacks the class to be a high school coach.He has a history of runing up the score and humiliating opposing teams.We saw that when he beat up on Dexter using his first string the entire game while beating them 69-0
Unusual Suspect
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 12:02 p.m.
There is a very easy and effective way to stop a team from running up the score: quit. Either do that or continue playing and stop whining.
jenica abinojar
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 11:52 a.m.
Were you at the game? I am a parent of a pioneer player and first string was not in the entire game, we had several players play that game that have never touched the ball except in practice, as well as defense make several great plays. Not sure what their (Dexter) record is, though I am confident that Pioneer isn't the only team whom beat them.....Nevertheless Test is a great coach and a asset to the program.
tom swift jr.
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 10:57 a.m.
I always get concerned when I hear phrases such as: "She said AAPS would attempt....." "'We're going to try ....." "... those consequences may not immediately be made available to the public ..." When I tell the wife that I'm going to 'attempt' to 'try' to get all those chores done, it pretty much means there's not a snowball's chance in heck that the lawn is going to get raked this weekend and I'll be out fishing instead. The resolution of this issue will demand some strong leadership, and an indication of the strength of leadership is the use of language that implies a commitment to resolution on a timely bases. Words like "try" and "attempt" don't inspire confidence.
Orangecrush2000
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 3:47 p.m.
A previous poster - "Claude" - commented that the AD declined to make a public statement that fighting and violence was wrong, etc.,... Not sure what the reason for not making a public statement to "condemn" fighting and violence. But, it seemes to me that this would've been a good time to do so. A good act of leadership.
DNB
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 2:17 p.m.
You make some very good points, tom swift jr. I guess when Dr. Green gets involved, there will be even less transparency. Also, as AAPS parents, we haven't seen any e-mails from Margolis about this incident.
kms
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 1:12 p.m.
I agree and had the same thoughts. It already sounds like Margolis is telling the community that AAPS will handle it privately but the public will not be informed about the outcome, an attitude, that frankly is just wrong. Privacy issues aside, this brawl was a a violent public incident with repercussions for all AAPS high school students and beyond.
Brad
Mon, Oct 15, 2012 : 12:03 p.m.
Yoda: "Try not. Do or do not. There is no try."