Arlington Bowie remains eligible for the playoffs

By Jarret Johnson

jmjohnson@star-telegram.com

The UIL on Monday cleared Arlington Bowie of any wrong doing following an official review of a player's eligibility.

The Volunteers (11-1) will play DeSoto (12-0) in a Class 5A Division I Region I semifinal 2 p.m. Saturday at Pennington Field in Bedford.

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"I felt for my kids and coaches for two days," Bowie coach Kenny Perry said. "I know what I'm about and I'm glad the UIL did what they did because they did the right thing."

The player in question transferred to the school earlier in the season and the Volunteers submitted the proper paperwork to the 3-5A District Executive Committee, who cleared him to play.

"We followed all the right protocols," Perry said. "The kid transferred weeks ago, we submitted paperwork to the District Executive Committee, and they approved him. After playing three weeks on the JV he was brought up and has played a handful of plays on the punt return team in a couple of games."

According to Perry, the UIL stated the reason for the review was that the proper Parent Residence Waiver had not been submitted. The PRW establishes residency with a parent or guardian who is separated. AISD was previously told by the executive committee that a PRW would not be necessary because the player in question had never lived with the other parent/guardian.

Arlington school district administrators, Bowie officials, Perry and others submitted the paperwork retroactively, and the team was cleared Monday morning.

“Arlington Bowie High School requested and was granted a retroactive waiver of the varsity athletic parent residence rule,” UIL representative Kate Hector said in a prepared statement.

Jarret Johnson, 817-390-7760

Twitter: @JohnsonJarret

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