Football: More trouble for Sotomayor

“It’s a mess.”

That’s what City Section Commissioner John Aguirre said of the ongoing issues involving the Sotomayor football program. The first-year varsity team has been forced to forfeit its first three victories because of ineligible players, and earlier this week, the team’s star running back, Rudy Murillo, was declared ineligible.

Four players have been declared ineligible so far, Aguirre said. The school has had multiple athletic directors over the past four months, and paperwork issues continue to create problems. Most of the students involved in eligibility issues attend charter schools on campus.

A football parent sent an email claiming that players had voted without coaches present to forfeit their remaining games if the entire team can’t participate, but Coach Danny Castro said, “That’s absurd.”

The team is scheduled to play Keppel on Friday. Castro said the team will play the game.

Castro said the school is working to clear Murillo, who rushed for more than 300 yards in the first two games against Monroe and Hoover. He’s a transfer from South Pasadena who the school says made a change of residence. The City Section is continuing to investigate Murillo’s eligibility.

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