Bellevue football booster club lawsuit dismissed

The Bellevue Wolverine Football Club failed to make a touchdown in court recently after a judge dismissed their lawsuit.

Bellevue parents, booster club go to court over WIAA sanctions

The Bellevue football booster club had sued the WIAA, Sea-King District 2, the KingCo Conference and the Bellevue School District after sanctions were imposed by the WIAA on the football program.

“The lawsuit was brought by the Bellevue booster club and the parents of students on the Bellevue football team,” said Attorney Angelo Calfo who represented the WIAA.

“They were claiming they were harmed by the sanctions imposed by the WIAA on the football program for the various violations of WIAA rules,” he said. “The judge found that because those persons were not personally sanctioned, they could not bring a lawsuit themselves.”

“The booster club’s lawsuit at the trial court level is terminated – it’s over,” he added.

Sanctions were imposed on the Bellevue football program in 2016 that barred the team from participating in post-season games for four years. Sanctions also affected the relationship between the football club and the team.

An investigation into the club and the football program resulted in many allegations earlier this year. Investigators claimed that the team encouraged out-of-district players to enroll at a local, private institute which was subsidized by the booster club. It also claimed that some players provided false addresses that placed them inside the school district, and in turn providing them access to play on the football team.

The investigation further found that Head Coach Butch Goncharoff received excessive payments for out-of-season work with the team. This work benefited from his position at the high school. Goncharoff has since called the investigation and the fallout a “set up.”

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