Nold’s last stand with FHSAA set for Sunday

Posted Nov 15, 2012 by Bill Ward

Updated Nov 15, 2012 at 04:03 PM

Armwood senior offensive lineman Gabe Nold has been knocked back three times in the past four months by the Florida High School Athletics Association in his bid to gain his athletic eligibility. Sunday afternoon in Gainesville, he will make a fourth attempt when he goes before the FHSAA board of directors in another appeal.

Two other county athletes, Hillsborough senior defensive back Jakarius Crittenden and Freedom basketball player Whitney Turntine-Ivy are also scheduled to go before the FHSAA board Sunday to seek their eligibility. Crittenden transferred from Sickles to Hillsborough but was ruled ineligible before the regular season started. Turntine-Ivy switched from Plant to Freedom.

Nold transferred in February from Wharton to Armwood. Soon after, he was ruled ineligible by Hawks principal Mike Ippolito for what Ippolito believed was a falsification of residency information. Nold went before an FHSAA sectional appeals committee in August but was denied eligibility. In October, he and his attorney, Peter Hobson, appealed to the board of directors in Gainesville. There, they presented new evidence in the form of phone records they say proves Nold was living within Armwood’s district. But the board ruled the evidence needed to be presented to the sectional committee, so Nold had another hearing with that group earlier this month.

Despite the new evidence and an expert witness confirming the accuracy of the phone records, the sectional committee again denied Nold. Now, he has one last chance with the board of directors. If he is denied again, Nold’s only recourse is to file for an injunction with the court system. That’s something his father, John Nold, has not ruled out should the board deny his son again Sunday.

Photo: Armwood senior football player Gabe Nold holds a otebook containing records of thousands of text messages and phone calls from his cell phone, which he says proves he has been living in the Hawks’ district ever since he transferred to the school in February. Photo by Bill Ward.