Grapevine absolves coach in baseball team’s removal from playoffs
Grapevine-Colleyville ISD provided an update Friday regarding defending state champion Grapevine’s removal from the UIL high school baseball playoffs to “ensure full transparency.”
In the statement sent to the Star-Telegram, the district said head coach Jimmy Webster and his staff are not at fault. An internal review confirmed all established protocols were followed.
Per the statement, GCISD said interim Superintendent Rick DeMasters and athletic leadership held a meeting with baseball families to provide a detailed timeline of the recent eligibility investigation.
“Following a UIL report on Tuesday evening, the district conducted an immediate internal investigation that included follow-up home visits and property verification to assess the student’s residency status,” the GCISD statement read.
“Although GCISD initially upheld the student’s eligibility based on available evidence, new information provided by the UIL on Wednesday afternoon confirmed that residency requirements under Section 442 were not met. As a result, the district rescinded the eligibility and self-reported the violation, accepting the mandatory forfeiture of all impacted games and bringing the season to an end.”
Section 442 requires athletes to be a “resident of the attendance zone in which the participant school being attended is situated.”
DeMasters also issued a statement:
“While this is an extremely difficult outcome for our student-athletes and community, we are committed to upholding the rules and expectations that govern interscholastic athletics. We believe strongly in modeling integrity and accountability even when the consequences are challenging.”
The statement said that moving forward, GCISD is committed to a complete review of the eligibility process.
“New Executive Director of Athletics Billy Skinner, who officially joins GCISD next week, will implement a more stringent and comprehensive validation process for all elements of the Previous Athletic Participation Form (PAPF) to ensure the interests of our student-athletes are protected and that a situation of this nature does not occur again.”
Skinner was approved to the position Monday. He is the former head football coach at Arlington Lamar.
The removal prevented the Mustangs from chasing a third consecutive state championship, which is something that hasn’t happened in UIL baseball since 1988.
Grapevine baseball parents released an open letter, explaining why they are extremely proud of the season, despite the sudden end.
“This is not a situation where a team ignored a rule, hid information or tried to gain an unfair advantage,” the letter read.
The letter said the parents have full faith in Webster and stand behind him completely. They thanked him for his dedication to developing the kids on and off the field.
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 11:50 AM.
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