No home field advantage in the playoffs this season and two years on probation were just two of the sanctions that have been handed down to the Turlock High School football program, as an investigation by the Sac-Joaquin Section has seemingly concluded.

The public learned Tuesday afternoon that the Sac-Joaquin Section found the Turlock High football program in violation of four bylaws, all dealing with activities related to practice schedules and offseason activities. They are the result of an investigation that began in March, when coaches from other area high schools raised concerns about improper pre-enrollment contacts made by members of the Bulldogs’ coaching staff, and the validity of their student-athletes leaving for Turlock High.

Not only are the Bulldogs ineligible to host a playoff game this upcoming season and find themselves on probation, but there will also be offseason practice restrictions imposed, and the school must also submit a Corrective Action Plan by Sept. 1 and self-impose sanctions, though it is unclear what each of the latter two penalties entail.

Attempts to reach the Sac-Joaquin Section and Turlock High athletic director Sean Gilbert on Tuesday night were unsuccessful.

The penalties are a result of rulings posted on the Section website.

The first is that the Turlock football program had “non-high school individuals” participate with the THS football team “via private business organizations.” The other ruling is Turlock football was deemed to have operated as an “out-of-season program” while being designated as in the “limited” practice period, where offseason practices are only allowed Monday through Friday for 1.5 hours per day and Saturday practices may be extended for up to four hours.

At the center of the complaints has been “The Lock,” a non-contact 7-on-7 and 5-on-5 offseason football program — operated largely in part by Turlock High coaches — that invites players from different schools and has age levels as low as 8U. The goal is said to help players develop and sharpen their skills during the offseason, as not every community has such a program.

Reacting just minutes after the sanctions were posted on the Section’s website was THS head football coach James Peterson.

“To be honest with you, I was looking forward to it because I just felt like a lot of this stuff has been on people's minds… I felt like it's been (dragging) way out for a long time,” Peterson told the Journal.

“I'm not excited about it, obviously. I'm a little bit upset about it. Hosting playoffs, to me, is a big deal. I wish we weren't right here… But you can’t run from it,” continued Peterson, who learned of the news shortly after departing the school’s weight room. “We have to move on and deal with it. And we’ll do it. We’ll move on gracefully, and I know we’ll be a better program because of it.”

While he expressed relief that the investigation is finally nearing an end, Peterson still has questions, concerns and disagreements. He shared that there is a planned meeting between him and THS administrators on Wednesday.

“This is a little bit shocking, to be honest,” said Peterson. “I literally just heard about it, so I’m trying to get more details from my admin, so until that happens, I’m reading it all right here with you.”

Peterson called the ruling that his program violated the terms of the official sports calendar (deemed infractions of bylaws 504.7 and 504.9) as a “clerical error,” and that the intention was to operate as out-of-season so that student-athletes could participate in The Lock, but the limited designation was never updated.

The ruling of participation amongst non-high schoolers is one that could be made if it was determined that The Lock or any other private organizations or businesses were actually working as a branch of the Turlock High football program, which led to undue influence, pre-enrollment contact and athletically-motivated transfers. All that falls under bylaw 510, which the Section ruled the program violated.

Peterson acknowledged that several of his coaches also run businesses in which they offer personal training.

“I'm not sure specifically who they're speaking to,” he said. “I don't know what they're calling the ‘private business.’ Would that be The Lock? Are those coaches? Because I have some coaches where their private business is athletic training… Again, I don’t have the details…”

As for the Corrective Action Plan due on Sept. 1 and the self-imposed sanctions, Peterson is hopeful that they will not negatively impact any student-athletes or members of his coaching staff. The primary concern brought up by area administrators was that The Lock (or in this case, any private organizations or businesses, as the Section described it) has been working as a branch of the Turlock High program in order to encourage transfers.

“The people that I have worried about the most are these student-athletes, every single one of them — the ones that grew up in Turlock or have recently moved to Turlock or transferred to Turlock,” he said. “At Turlock High School, we have a saying here: ‘Once a Bulldog, Always a Bulldog.’ So since this has happened, my mind has been on these athletes and how this is affecting them and their mental health. I know for myself and their parents, we just wanted an answer so we can move on with whatever the next steps may be. That's the best thing that's happened. When I said there was a silver lining, it’s that this thing's coming to a conclusion. That's great so we can correct and move on.

“On the Section website right now, it does not say the details and individuals and their transfership, whether they're eligible, or what their transfer eligibility is at this time, so I'm still curious about that, too.”

A scan through the Section’s "Transfer Ruling” portal, which was not updated at the time of this publication, shows that five to seven players on the team could be impacted.

“My goal was never to be outside the lines,” Peterson said. “Whatever day we're allowed to do something in the Section, we're pushing it, and working our program to the maximum, but not to cross the line. We never wanted to cross the line, it was never anybody's goal… Our goal is to comply, not cause a problem.”