Number one high school in the nation plays football game against a team that doesn’t exist.
Many are aware of the circumstances of Bishop Sycamore and what they have done and high school football. Essentially, Bishop Sycamore started a high school football program with no high school curriculum and no official roster to check the age or verify the legitimacy of all of the players.
According to CBS sports the new Bishop Sycamore head coach said, “We do not offer curriculum. We are not a school. That’s not what Bishop Sycamore is, and I think that’s what the biggest misconception about us was, and that was our fault. Because that was a mistake on paperwork.”(CBSSports)
In the same article Bishop Sycamore claims to be a charter school, which would make them the only one in Ohio. The problem with this is that no Ohio school board has recognized them as a school or a charter program.
Bishop Sycamore play two games int the 2021 season before people realize that they may not be a legitimate program. Everyone came to this realization when they played a game against the number one high school in the nation, IMG Academy.
During the game announcers could not find names on the roster provided for some and maybe even most of the Bishop Sycamore roster. Bishop Sycamore lost very badly to IMG Academy 58 to 0. The high school game was aired live on ESPN and that is where people realize that Bishop Sycamore is not a real school. One of the funniest things initially brought about when Bishop Sycamore was discovered was that their first head coach had an arrest warrant and it was initially rumored that some of their players were well over 20. (ESPN)
Bishop Sycamore is under scrutiny besides not having a legitimate high school curriculum and facing allegations of having players well over a high school age, was that they played two games in the span of three days. This is very uncommon in the football world because football games take a while to recover from, it was unsafe and healthy for the players to be playing in two games in such a short amount of time.
According to ESPN their record last season before getting caught as a school with no curriculum 0-6. They were outscored in 2020 by a score of 342 to 49 by all of their opponents.
Although many accusations and negative light has been shown on Bishop Sycamore they still have a head coach and a football program. With their new coach who isn’t being arrested for warrants, he has plans to keep Bishop sycamore growing and help his players play college football. Many teams have withdrawn from scheduled games against Bishop Sycamore recently and that will hurt Bishop Sycamore’s players chances at getting recruited to colleges. (USA Today)
The situation is very weird and it’s pretty unprecedented in the football world which made the story interesting.
Sources
Chris Bengel Sep 7. (2021, September 7). Bishop Sycamore Football CONTROVERSY: ‘we do not OFFER curriculum, we are not A School,’ new head coach says. CBSSports.com. Retrieved September 20, 2021, from https://www.cbssports.com/general/news/bishop-sycamore-football-controversy-we-do-not-offer-curriculum-we-are-not-a-school-new-head-coach-says/.
ESPN Internet Ventures. (2021, August 31). Ohio-based high school football team BISHOP sycamore FACES questions about legitimacy. ESPN. Retrieved September 20, 2021, from https://www.espn.com/high-school/story/_/id/32119688/ohio-based-high-school-football-team-bishop-sycamore-faces-questions-legitimacy.
Reyes, L. (2021, September 2). Bad checks, Christians of FAITH, opponents backing out: What we know about BISHOP SYCAMORE. USA Today. Retrieved September 20, 2021, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/highschool/2021/09/02/bishop-sycamore-what-we-know-ohio-school-under-scrutiny/5693948001/.