Sac-Joaquin Section rules on Turlock High football program ahead of season
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Turlock High violated four CIF bylaws from January to May 2025, including rules on eligibility and off-season participation.
- Sanctions include playoff hosting ban, two-year probation, and mandated off-season restrictions.
- CIF cited improper player transfers and off-season conduct linked to club team 'The Lock'.
The CIF Sac-Joaquin Section has ruled on allegations of players transferring to Turlock High from schools in surrounding cities in the southern part of the section after competing with club team “The Lock.” The section on Tuesday posted a ruling on its website, four months after the original meeting between section officials and Turlock High.
After meeting in March about the original allegations, the section allowed Turlock to do an internal investigation and submit its findings to the SJS office. It was noted on the section’s sanctions page that Turlock High violated four bylaws from January to May 2025, the off-season after the 2024 high school football season.
Because of the infractions, Turlock High football is not eligible to host during the 2025-26 playoffs, has off-season restrictions, has been placed on a two-year probation (2025-26, 2026-27) and will have self-imposed sanctions. Turlock High must also submit a corrective action plan, due Sept. 1. The sanctions are programwide.
The Bee was unable to reach new Turlock athletic director Sean Gilbert on Tuesday regarding the section’s ruling.
The infractions explained
Turlock violated bylaws 201, 510, 504.9 and 504.7, according to the section.
Bylaw 201 pertains to the standards of eligibility, stating students enrolled in any CIF member school and meeting all standards of eligibility provided by the CIF, the respective CIF section, their league and district are considered in good standing.
Bylaws 504.7 and 504.9 explain off-season participation. When given the customary option to choose limited or out-of-season at the end of the 2024 season, Turlock chose a “limited” designation but operated under “out-of-season” guidelines, violating the time constraints outlined in bylaw 504.9 (no more than eight hours total, Mondays through Saturday, with a maximum of 90 minutes any weekday and four hours Saturday). They also failed to properly abide by football activities guidelines in bylaw 504.7.
A football program operating as “limited” is operating as part of the school’s team. It is allowed to use school equipment like footballs, tackling dummies, blocking sleds but helmets and pads are prohibited. They are allowed to use school facilities free of charge.
If a program registers as “out-of-season”, according to the bylaws, “The use of any football equipment will not be allowed between the end of a school’s football season and the school’s last day of attendance.” If a program gets together, it must act as an outside organization, often times associated with AAU. Any school facilities that organization uses must be rented.
Turlock High registered as limited but participated all off-season as “The Lock”. To do so legally, Turlock would have had to register as an out-of-season team.
It is a mistake Turlock head coach James Peterson on Tuesday called a “clerical error.”
Peterson was leaving the weight room after Turlock’s second official preseason practice when contacted by The Bee and said he had not heard specifics of the ruling from administration at that time. He did say they talked to him about a meeting on Wednesday that he assumed would be about specifics on the section’s sanctions.
“To hear your school in this light is never the goal,” Peterson said. “We never wanted to cross lines. We wanted to do everything we’re allowed to do.”
The section said Turlock had “participation of non-high school individuals with THS football team via private business organizations.” That is an area Peterson hoped to gain more clarity on because multiple Turlock coaches also train local athletes.
A bylaw 510 violation could possibly carry the most severe penalty for the defending Central California Athletic League champions.
“The Lock”, an off-season club football team, is run by assistant coaches on the Turlock High staff. It was considered a violation of bylaw 510 — pre-enrollment contact — when five to eight players who played for different schools during the 2024 season transferred to Turlock after playing for the off-season team.
The 510 violation for undue influence (pre-enrollment contact) usually comes with a penalty of a one-year sit-out period for student athletes involved. The section as of Tuesday evening did not have penalties listed for most of the new Turlock High football transfers. When the section’s transfer portal opens in early August, a large number of transfers across the Sac-Joaquin Section will be processed and the status of Turlock’s transfers will be known.
According to the Sac-Joaquin Section, “pre-enrollment contact may include, but is not limited to: any communication of any kind, directly or indirectly, with the student, parent(s)/guardian(s)/caregiver, relatives, or friends of the student about the athletic programs at a school; orientation/information programs, shadowing programs; attendance at outside athletic or similar events by anyone associated with the school to observe the student; participation by the student in programs supervised by the school or its associates before enrollment in the school.”
“We’re going to serve the penalties and do it willfully,” Peterson said Tuesday. “I feel bad for any athletes that are hurt from this and we’ll learn from it.”
Off-season restrictions
During the off-season, programs have the option to operate as limited or out-of-season. Designation comes with its own set of rules.
Because of the section’s sanctions, Turlock will not have an option for two of the three off-season periods from the end of this season until May 31, 2026. This will affect the program’s football workouts and 7-on-7 participation.
From the end of season to Jan. 11, 2026 (Period No. 12), Turlock has a section-mandated dead period. While other football programs will be able to choose if they operate under limited or out-of-season designation, Turlock’s players will not be allowed to contact members of the coaching staff.
Period No. 13 (Jan. 12 to April 12, 2026) will be a section-mandated limited period. During this time, no school coaches will be allowed to coach their players. This time is a big recruiting period where most schools register as out-of-season so they can attend college camps and 7-on-7 events. Because they will be forced to register as limited, Turlock will not be able to attend.
Turlock will be able to pick between limited and out-of-season for Period No. 14 (April 13 to May 31, 2026).
