Nolan Catholic athletic program placed on probation, football to forfeit three games

The Nolan Catholic athletic program will be placed on probation through June 2023 for using ineligible football players, according to a decision made by the TAPPS District Executive Committee on Sept. 29. This includes all sports at the school.

Nolan will also have to forfeit three football games prior to Sept. 29.

In an email sent to the Star-Telegram, there were five players in question who transferred to the school earlier this year. According to the school, forms were submitted to TAPPS weeks earlier, but no action was taken to formally approve them until the meeting on Sept. 29.

Nolan Catholic athletic director Jordan Hampton and head football coach David Beaudin confirmed with the Star-Telegram that transfer paperwork was submitted to the TAPPS offices on Aug. 26 and Sept. 7 for approval.

Beaudin said that the school made multiple efforts to reach TAPPS to confirm the players eligibility and at no point were told that they were ineligible to play.

TAPPS still voted to sanction Nolan Catholic for allowing the students to participate prior to the forms being formally approved. The decision by the district was appealed and upheld by the TAPPS Executive Board.

TAPPS defines probation as: “A given period of time during which a member school, employee, of the member school or a specific program of the member school is subject to critical examination and evaluation to determine if the subject on probation is in compliance with the TAPPS Constitution, By-Laws, and Contest Rules. If the component, while on probation, is found to be in violation of the TAPPS Constitution, By-Laws, or Contest Rules, that subject will be subject to more stringent sanctions.”

However, the Nolan Catholic football team is still eligible to earn a playoff seed this season. All athletic programs are eligible to go to the playoffs during the next two years.

Nolan, which is currently in the Top 5 private school rankings in the state and the No. 1 ranked private school in the Fort Worth area, has a 5-2 record and 4-0 in district.

According to the sanction, Nolan will have to forfeit its three wins prior to Sept. 29, which includes two district wins over Midland Christian (48-28) and Dallas Bishop Lynch (50-21). The other win came on Sept. 4, a 36-34 victory in triple overtime at the Star in Frisco against Little Rock Catholic from Arkansas.

The Vikings’ record will drop to 2-5 overall and 2-2 in District 1-6A with wins over Plano John Paul II (78-2) and Fort Worth All Saints (29-7). They still have Argyle Liberty Christian (Oct. 22), Dallas Parish Episcopal (Oct. 29) and Plano Prestonwood (Nov. 5) left on their schedule.