Glenwood Youth Football Coach Says Adult Heads Prevailed in Compromise

GLENWOOD, IL — The entire time his Glenwood Cougars pee wee football team was embroiled in a controversy involving a 13-year-old who is smart enough to have tested into the 10th grade, Gary Richardson hoped cooler heads would prevail.

The saga involving Tremayne Gandy, Jr., had led to 200 Cougars players and cheerleaders being suspended by the Southwest Midget Football League after it was determined that the program violated league rules by having a high school student on its varsity roster.

But last week, the league and the program reached a compromise that allows the Cougars’ younger players to return to the field, but that will keep the older players — and Gandy, Jr. — from having the chance to register any more victories or advance to the playoffs.

For Richardson, the Cougars' president, watching a program that has won multiple league championships punished based on the academic success of one player has been a tough pill to swallow. But he hopes that some good — and change — can come from a situation that has put his program in the spotlight for a very different reason than it is accustomed.

Just days after the league lifted the suspension for the Cougars’ younger levels and cheerleaders, Richardson told Patch he is satisfied with the final result. While he said some board members were pushing for the Cougars to be kicked out of the league for the infraction, “adult heads” prevailed, leading to last week’s decision to leave only the team’s varsity program to be affected for the rest of the season.

“It’s very unfortunate,” Richardson told Patch on Monday night regarding the entire situation. “These kids are still out there playing football when they realized that they were really playing for nothing, you know? It’s very detrimental. My thing was, ‘What am I telling this 8-year-old or this 7-year-old about education in football?’ I think the league looked at it as just some rule being broken and as an unfortunate situation.”

Gandy, who meets the age requirements for a league that allows players up to the age of 14, tested into the 10th grade over the summer. But while weighing just 140 pounds, Gandy, Jr. was not physically or mentally ready to play at the junior varsity level in high school, his family and coaches decided, which kept him within the Cougars organization.

League officials characterized the situation as “regrettable to enforce a disciplinary action that affects a wider organization” but said that the other 13 teams in the league all play by the same rules. While the program’s younger teams will play their remaining two games, the varsity will play out the schedule, but the games will be counted as forfeits and the varsity Cougars will not be permitted to compete in the postseason, the league determined.

Richardson said he hopes that adults learn to communicate better and understand that not everything is going to be black and white. The controversy drew the attention of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, which got involved in the matter. Richardson declined to comment on the group’s efforts, but said he was thankful for the support his program received from the organization.

Bishop Tavis Grant, the interim national executive director of the organization, appeared at a rally last week as community members protested the suspension of the entire Cougars organization

He said that moving forward, team officials will need to ask kids who have been part of the program since age 5 or 6 (as Gandy Jr. has been) what grade they are in every year. Richardson said that Gandy, Jr., is coping OK with the decision, but that he — like his teammates — is disappointed they won’t be able to finish their season.

“I think he has carried himself very well,” Richardson said. “I don’t think he’s happy that he is not able to play, but I think he is coping.”

In a joint statement issued last week by the league and the Cougars, officials said that the Cougars take “full responsibility” for failing to provide the registration information provided by the parents that was accurate. The statement said that Gandy was technically ineligible for half of the 2021 season and all of the 2022 season according to league rules, which led to the initial decision to suspend the Cougars’ entire program.

The league said that the Cougars could have been expelled from the league, but instead, will remain on probation through the 2023 season. League officials said that they are glad they could reach a compromise that upholds the league’s rules, but that allows the Cougars – who have been part of the midget league for more than 40 years — to continue.

“As each of our athletes continues to hone their abilities on the playing field, in the classroom, and in the real world, we will continue to advocate for them,” the league said in the statement. “As a league, we work hard to uphold the integrity of the game for both newcomers and seasoned players alike, and we look forward to continuously serving as the governors of the league.”

Richardson said that while he is glad to have his program reinstated as a whole, he believes discussions must take place to keep this kind of situation from happening again.

“There are rules every year that need to be re-evaluated and re-looked at,” Richardson told Patch. “Times change ….there are going to be unique situations that come along. That’s what I have said all along. This was a unique situation, and it should have been looked at uniquely.”