A Florida high school football coach will be sidelined for the remainder of the 2019 season after he was suspended in connection with an earlier ejection for unsportsmanlike conduct.
As reported by the Palm Beach Post, Wellington (Fla.) High School football coach Tom Abel has been informed that he’s now officially being suspended for the remainder of the 2019 season. His ban comes in connection with an ejection he received late in the team’s 17-6 victory at Forest Hill on Friday, Sep. 27.
Additional reporting from the Palm Beach Post indicates that the coach was ejected for cursing at a game official. In fact, a report from the East Coast Football Officials Association for the Florida High School Athletic Association indicated that Abel cursed at officials twice, with the second violation earning the ejection.
Because the suspension is to last five games, it effectively rules out Abel for the remainder of the 2019 season. There is no recourse for Abel to overturn the sentence because his initial appeal to the FHSAA was rejected on Friday, and he subsequently sat out his team’s 17-10 loss to Boca Raton (Fla.) High School to serve the first game of his five-game ban.
As noted by the Post, it’s possible Abel’s suspension will stretch into the 2020 season if the team misses the playoffs. With the Wolverines current 2-5, that remains a real possibility. Wellington has three remaining regular season games, a final home game against Jupiter and then two road games to complete the season, at Palm Beach Gardens and at Seminole Ridge.
