An Ohio high school athletic director is under fire after the school's girls' volleyball team was stripped of its district championship title.
According to the Athens Independent, Athens City School District athletic director Eric Sholtis is being accused of negligence after he failed to file required paperwork for a transfer student on the volleyball team.
The starting player, who moved from West Virginia to Ohio in May and was open-enrolled into ACSD, was deemed ineligible to play because Sholtis failed to submit the proper transfer documents to the Ohio High School Athletic Association.
OHSAA rules require that the last 12 games played with the ineligible player be foreited, resulting in Athens varsity girls volleyball team being stripped of it 2024 TRi-Valley Conference co-champion award.
Chelsea Stolz, the mother of a varsity starter, said at a Nov. 21 board of education meeting that only superintendent Tom Gibbs and associate superintendent Chad Springer had apologized to the team personally.
“[Sholtis] has never owned the mistake, I was absolutely enraged by his response to it,” said Stolz in an interview after the board meeting.
The volleyball team was informed of the player’s ineligibility less than two hours before their district playoff match against Unioto on Oct. 14. Multiple parents say they found out when they arrived at the high school for the game. Athens went on to sweep Unioto, 3-0.
In a statement to the Independent sent on Nov. 25, Sholtis stated, “I am incredibly sorry to the members of the volleyball team. The processes we had in place did fail. There were multiple variables that led to this oversight, but the oversight is ultimately on me. While it was difficult to hear, I respect a parent’s right to speak up for their child. The events of this volleyball season and the statement from the board meeting serve as a reinforcement for me in the importance of continual growth and improvement.”
Per the Independent, the volleyball team incident is among several instances involving Sholtis that have frustrated parents. Other complaints regarding Sholtis include:
- Repeatedly ignoring complaints of racist and homophobic attacks on members of both the boys and girls soccer teams. A boys player was subjected to abuse during games at Alexander in 2020 and 2022. When a parent brought up the abuse before playing Alexander in 2023, Sholtis allegedly told them that the boys team should “shut them up on the field.” (The boys soccer team has not lost to Alexander in four years.)
- Dismissing volleyball parent complaints after a match at Marietta, during which a member of the Marietta teaching staff called the Athens players “cunts.” Sholtis said the incident was reported to the school’s Title IX and Title VI coordinators, was fully investigated by Athens administrators, and results shared with Marietta administration. Parents maintain that Sholtis did not communicate what actions were taken. The Independent has requested copies of the Title IX and Title VI reports.
- Not attending high-profile events other than football, including the Nov. 2 state championship cross country meet, where AHS junior Sophia Szolosi captured the state title — the first in the school’s history. (A parent of an AHS athlete said they saw Sholtis at the Athens Country Club on the day of the meet.) In contrast, multiple parents and players told the Independent that Sholtis attends nearly every football practice, standing on the field, which two players said “was annoying.” Sholtis admitted he didn’t attend a cross country meet this year, but has in the past.
- Not arranging for a bus to take the 2023 AHS softball team to their district game and only approving a release time that gave the team only 45 minutes to get to the site. After the game, the team refused to let Sholtis give them their medals; then-Coach Roger Bissell had to take the medals from Sholtis to give to the girls. Sholtis said the softball coach did not request a bus.
- Lack of oversight of venue upgrades, including a new fence for the softball field that left a lighting pole exposed in the outfield; arranging for the new tennis courts to be painted on the AHS girls team’s Senior Night, forcing the team to walk up to the old courts to play their match after having the ceremony next to the new courts. Sholtis said the painting company missed deadlines, despite assurances that the courts would be ready.
- Unilaterally placing onerous restrictions regarding practices and games, including mandating that athletes ride the bus to and from events instead of riding with their parents. He also forced the Athens Middle School soccer teams to practice at the high school and share a field. (In the past, the teams and coaches would travel together to the fields behind the Athens Public Library, where each team had its own field.) After parents protested both edicts, Sholtis eventually reversed his decision.
Sholtis’ three-year contract with ACSD is up for renewal in spring 2025.
