BY NATE KOTISSO | STAFF WRITER
WESLACO — The District 31-6A executive committee declined the transfer requests of former Sharyland Pioneer athlete Jacob Rosales and former Edinburg North athlete Frankie Zuniga to Edinburg Vela on Monday after concluding that the moves were being made for athletic purposes.
The DEC is made up of the four Edinburg CISD high schools, two Weslaco ISD high schools and Donna North — the seven schools set begin competing in athletics next month as part of the new District 31-6A.
Weslaco East, which hosted and served as district chair, was without a principal at the meeting. Weslaco ISD reassigned East principal Dr. Raul Cantu earlier this month, and district superintendent Dr. Priscilla Canales appointed Weslaco ISD athletic director Oscar Riojas as DEC chair on July 13.
“The information was presented to the committee. The committee gave the families and schools ample opportunity to ask questions and give clarifications, and the committee eventually decided against approving them,” Riojas said.
Sharyland Pioneer was represented at the meeting by athletic coordinator Thomas Lee, baseball coach Casey Smith and Sharyland ISD athletic director Richard Thompson. Speaking on behalf of Pioneer, Lee made the case that the Rosales family was moving into the Edinburg Vela attendance zone for athletic purposes, which is not permitted per Section 443 of the University Interscholastic League’s constitution.
“After I got the football job at Pioneer, I had two coaches who contacted me and told me that the young man (Rosales) was going to Vela,” Lee said to the committee. “When someone told me that he was going to move to Vela, I had concern, so I called his dad.”
Lee said Jacob’s father, Carlos, told Lee that Jacob wasn’t going anywhere. Jacob would remain a Diamondback.
“I had another coach come up to me after one of our baseball games and say the same thing about Jacob leaving,” Lee said to the DEC. “I talked to his dad again. He said he couldn’t speak to the rumors, but he did say that he wasn’t leaving. That was the last time I talked about it.”
Carlos Rosales argued the move into the Vela attendance zone was made to shorten the commute of Jacob’s mom, who works in Raymondville, and to accommodate his college-age son, who is transferring from a school in Central Texas to UTRGV.
“I went to see coach Lee on May 30 with my son by my side,” Carlos Rosales told the committee during the case’s closing arguments. “I didn’t know coach Smith would be there, but coach Smith was there. I thanked them for everything they did for my son. Coach Lee was visibly upset. He made it very clear that he, his principal nor his AD (athletic director) were happy with us moving. He further stated that he had been to several DEC meetings and that I didn’t know what I was getting myself into. He kept saying repeatedly that it was going to be a shame if your son is out for his senior year. He kept on repeating that. I thanked them again. I knew I was not going to get any support for the move, and I walked out.
“I’m doing this for my family, no matter what. My family is my life. If we’re moving 5 miles, 10 miles, then I’d do it for my wife. Would I do it again tomorrow? I would. That’s the way I was raised.”
“We understood the parent move,” Lee told the DEC. “That’s why we gave him the opportunity to stay with us and finish with the group that he had worked with for the past six years. We told them that they didn’t have to live at the old residence. ‘If you want to be closer, you’re still allowed to come to Pioneer High School, and we’ll accept you as a student.’ We wanted to make sure that was well known.”
Rosales’ Previous Athletic Participation Form was marked ‘No’ in the section that asked if the student played on a non-school team and was transferring to a school that members of the non-school team attend.
Rosales’ travel baseball team, the South Texas Sliders 17U, lists current Edinburg Vela shortstop Ramsey Amador on its roster. The DEC voted 5-1 to deny the transfer request.
In three seasons as a quarterback at Sharyland Pioneer, Rosales threw for 4,090 yards, 42 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also made The Monitor’s All-Area First Team as a pitcher, logging a 1.15 earned run average in 66 2/3 innings in addition to competing on the Diamondbacks’ track team.
Lee, Smith, Thompson and the Rosales family declined comment after the decision.
The DEC also denied the transfer request of Zuniga, the former Edinburg North quarterback and second baseman, by a 4-1 vote, citing athletic purposes.
“We turned in everything we needed to,” Zuniga’s father, Francisco, said after the vote. “We had a lot of proof, and we still got denied.”
Edinburg Vela plans to appeal both DEC decisions to the UIL’s State Executive Committee.
“It’s in our best interest to have the kids have an opportunity to be eligible, wherever that is,” Edinburg Vela football coach/athletic coordinator John Campbell said. “We’re going to follow the process and do what is in line with UIL policy and procedures. A DEC hearing is part of the process, and so is the appeal process. We’re going to let it run its course.”
Zuniga led the Cougars in passing yards (403) on the football team but made his mark on North’s playoff-bound baseball team with a .322 batting average and a club-high nine stolen bases.
If both appeals are denied by the state executive committee, Edinburg Vela will lose two options at quarterback before the football team hosts its 2018 season opener against Laredo United on Aug. 30.