Caruthersville leader finds disciplinary action for his student-athletes 'hard to swallow'

One week following a “physical confrontation” at the Bulldog Classic basketball tournament at Gideon High School, which resulted in all Caruthersville Junior High and High School athletic teams being suspended from competition within the Bootheel Athletic Conference throughout the remainder of the 2023-24 academic year, the conference issued information regarding the matter.

“This decision was not taken lightly and was based on a number of serious events that have happened over the past few years that have involved Caurthersville,” a statement released by the Bootheel Athletic Conference read. “These events consisted of numerous fights at different schools during sporting events, which placed fans and players' safety at risk. These events resulted in game cancellations, tournament cancellations, and property damage.

“One event also involved a gun and the tragic loss of life. This was not a decision based on one incident, but at least six over the past three years. The vote was unanimous and was based on BHC constitution before any amendments and MSHSAA Bylaws.”

On the surface, all of that makes sense. However, Caruthersville School District 18 Superintendent Brad Gerling took issue with the decision knowing the details of the decision.

“It’s hard to swallow,” Gerling said of the suspension. “We’ve got no student-athletes that were involved in this incident or prior incidents. Now, we’ve got kids that weren’t (at Gideon High School), that don’t even go to that school, (and) we’ve got junior high kids who are now facing consequences for this action.”

What “spurred” this decision?

The leadership of the Bootheel Athletic Conference, which includes the schools of Campbell, Caruthersville, Hayti, Holcomb, Kennett, Malden, Portageville, Senath-Hornersville, and South Pemiscot, made this decision, at this juncture, based on a “physical confrontation,” according to Gerling, that involved two Caruthersville High School students, neither of which are Tiger student-athletes, as well as a “number of students from another school,” according to Gerling.

Video of the incident has circulated widely on social media and appears to have taken place in the lobby of Gideon High School outside of the gymnasium, in which South Pemiscot and Kennett were playing a game in the tournament.

Preceding that game, the host Bulldogs and Caruthersville had played a game, and for a brief time, members of the Caruthersville travel party (players, coaches, administrators, and cheerleaders) stayed and watched the following game. However, Gerling noted that at the time of the incident, those Caruthersville-related people had left the Gideon campus.

“We’ve got kids who are in different (athletic) seasons,” Gerling continued on the topic of punishment. “I did not agree with this decision.”

What happened at the league meeting?

The leadership of the conference gathered on Monday and amended the league’s constitution, though it was done so after the fact, in terms of the discipline handed down to Caruthersville Schools.

The league voted to:

1 To amend the constitution to include a Warning to a Bootheel Conference Team Member for fan and or player conduct that jeopardized the safety of the fans and players.

2. To amend the constitution to suspend a Bootheel Conference Team Member for up to one year in all sports for fan and or player conduct that jeopardized the safety of the fans and players.

3. To amend the constitution to remove a Bootheel Conference Team Member for fan and or player conduct that jeopardized the safety of the fans and players.

In addition, the league suspended Tiger athletic programs (by an 8-0 vote), but Gerling hopes teams throughout the area will continue to compete with Caruthersville squads.

“My hope is,” Gerling said, “that we have some area schools that are still going to be willing to see (this as unfair) and let our kids compete.”

Portageville High School is among that group because the Bulldogs are hosting the Tigers tonight in boy’s basketball.

Lastly, the conference also issued a warning to the South Pemiscot County R-V School District, which will be in effect throughout the remainder of the 2023-24 academic year (passing 7-0 with Caruthersville abstaining).

“The conference made this decision based on two events over the past two years,” the league stated regarding South Pemiscot.

What led us to this point?

The conference stated, “a number of serious events that have happened over the past few years that have involved Caurthersville.” However, Gerling took issue with that information, and emphasized that being suspended from league competition has never been discussed by league leadership.

“There has been some discussion about incidents that have happened in the past,” Gerling said. “(Those incidents) may have involved events that we have hosted, (but) primarily not involving our students, our residents, or our athletes.”

Despite those talks, Gerling was clear that “there has not been a warning (of suspension).”

What are the details regarding the incident which “involved a gun and the tragic loss of life?”

On Sept. 23, 2023, a fatal shooting took place following a Caruthersville High School football game. However, neither involved party was from Caruthersville.

Zy’Quan Williams, of Charleston, was arrested and questioned following a traffic stop five days later by Cape Girardeau police and the Missouri State Highway Patrol, in connection with the shooting death of 19-year-old Herschel Grant, of Hayti.

Williams was charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action following a deadly shooting.

What does the future hold for Caruthersville athletics?

Gerling is communicating with his community, coaches, and administrators, regarding the expectations for Tiger athletics moving forward. And those educators are communicating the behavioral expectations to their student-athletes.

“Based on the actions being taken,” Gerling said, “we should be fully reinstated in August (2024).”

The league, however, is taking a “wait-and-see” approach to this matter.

“Over the past three years, there have been conversations within our conference that have included Caruthersville administration about concerns with safety protocols and lack of supervision,” the league said. “We hoped to see progress and responsibility from Caruthersville in the areas that have been discussed. Unfortunately, as a conference, we felt that little, if any, progress has been made.

“We hope that this difficult decision will give Caruthersville time to evaluate their protocols and have positive conversations with their students, community, and fan base as it pertains to fan conduct.”

For Gerling, as well as the rest of the Caruthersville community, the discipline and expectations being set are nebulous, to some degree.

“The kids who were involved in this situation,” Gerling said, “the adults who have been involved in other situations, are not the ones who are going to feel the consequences.”

Semoball.com contacted MSHSAA to see if the state’s governing body could be involved in this matter, but MSHSAA stated that Caruthersville could petition for intervention, but its board was limited to only making recommendations to individual conferences.

In addition, the Sikeston Standard-Democrat has contacted the New Madrid County Sheriff's Office for information regarding the incident at Gideon, however, it is an active investigation so no details will be released at this time.