Florida high school reprimanded, fined $40k

In what may be some of the stiffest penalties levied against a program out of Pasco County by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), an obtained sanctions letter against Zephyrhills Christian Academy lists a series of major rule violations from the 2024-25 season.

In the sanctions letter obtained by Rivals, Zephyrhills Christian Academy has been punished and placed on a one-year probation by the FHSAA due to eleven different rules violations stemming from the 2024-25 football and boys basketball season. 

The FHSAA’s ruling excludes every sport at Zephyrhills Christian Academy from taking part in the association’s state series, concluding at the end of the 2025-26 school year, requiring the forfeiture of all games and honors from the 2024-2025. The sanctions also included fines that totaled $150,600, with $110,250 being held in abeyance, leaving them at a total of $40,350 that would be owed to the FHSAA.

Included in the sanctions letter sent to Zephyrhills Christian Academy detailed that FHSAA Executive Director Craig Damon contacted the school back on January 23, 2025 regarding allegations of the participation of ineligible student-athletes in games. On the following day of January 24, ZCA self-reported the use of an ineligible player for both football, boys basketball and that they would forfeit the affected games the unnamed athlete played in.

The unnamed athlete, whose name is redacted in the letter, played in a game three days later on January 27 on senior night against Specially Fit Academy, a 87-59 victory for ZCA.

Following that, the Gainesville-based association had requested the transcripts of the said player, but had never received them from ZCA, though the FHSAA would obtain them from Hillsborough and Pasco counties. The FHSAA found that the athlete had begun his high school athletics clock in August 2020, deeming the unnamed player ineligible for the 2024-25 school year. Transcripts revealed the student-athlete had actually already graduated from Sunlake High School in 2024 before taking part in athletic contests at ZCA for the 2024-25 season.

The FHSAA had reviewed ZCA’s boys’ basketball roster and discovered that each student-athlete, despite their grade level, had the same or similar dates for DE9 (9th-grade entry date), EL2 (Preparticipation Physical Evaluation), and EL3 (Consent and Release from Liability Certificate) forms, as well as grade point averages. This was also found to be the same for every sport at the school where rosters had been submitted, which also included girls’ basketball, baseball, softball, and boys’ wrestling.

ZCA was unable to produce EL2 forms for eight of the eleven rostered boys basketball players and produced zero EL3 forms for any of the athletes on the team.

Other findings by the FHSAA included multiple youth-exchange students to play contests without submitting EL4 forms, which is used to determine athletic eligibility for foreign exchange, other international, and immigrant students. I-20 forms obtained by the FHSAA disclosed that the youth-exchange student-athletes were living with coach Franklin Agholor, who was also sponsoring their tuition and living expenses.

The rule violations committed by ZCA according to the sanctions letter was of the following FHSAA bylaws and policies:

1.4.21 (Major Violations)

9.1.2.1 (Ineligible Student)

9.5.1 (High School Student Has Eight Semesters of Eligibility)

9.4.7 (Student Must be an Undergraduate)

9.7.1 (Student Must Have a Physical Evaluation Each Year)

9.8.1 (Student Must Provide School with Signed Consent and Release Form to Participate)

10.2.1.3 (Intentional Use of Ineligible Students)

17.1.11 (FHSAA Eligibility)

17.1.12 (Registration Procedures for Youth Exchange Students)

37.2.1 (General Regulation)

37.2.2 (Specific Prohibitions)

The largest fine assessed by the FHSAA comes from violation of Policy 16.11.5, which each student-athlete illegally playing in every game costs $2,500 per, which at 49 contests, equaled a sum of $122,500 in monetary fines, with $110,250 being withheld for the time being.

ZCA’s boys basketball team last season finished with a record of 20-7, reaching the Class 1A, Region 2 semifinals. On the football side, the Warriors went 1-9 in 2024.

The Warriors’ football team is currently 2-3 this 2025 campaign and is scheduled to face Community School Of Naples on Oct. 3.

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