Top-ranked The First Academy (Orlando) football team found guilty of rules violations

FHSAA announces Royals must forfeit 8 wins, pay $36,000 in fines, cannot participate in 2024, 2025 playoffs

The FHSAA lowered the boom on The First Academy on Friday, ordering the Royals to forfeit 8 wins and pay $36,000 in fines. / Mark Zaleski / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK

After gaining more than 30 transfer players that marched The First Academy’s football team to the No. 1 spot in Class 1A, the Royals now find themselves winless with less than a week before the postseason.

Per a story in The Orlando Sentinel on Friday, TFA has been informed by the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) that it has been found guilty of multiple rules violations that have created a wave of uncertainty for the football program’s future.

Per a report from the FHSAA, rules violations included improper communication with players not yet enrolled at TFA, offering an Uber ride to school for a player not yet enrolled, unenrolled players competing for the Royals in summer activities, hosting multiple 7-on-7 events with coaches and without a required facility usage agreement for non-school activities, and more, according to The Orlando Sentinel.

As a result, the FHSAA has placed the private school on restrictive probation until Dec. 20, 2025, which means TFA must forfeit all eight of its wins this year, effectively eliminating it from the playoffs for the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

TFA, which entered Friday night’s game against Calvary Christian of Clearwater with an 8-1 record, now sits at 0-9 after beginning the year with much promise.

The FHSAA also fined the school $36,000 for various rules violations and banned first-year assistant coach Steven Moffett from coaching until Oct. 31, 2025. Moffett, a former Winter Park and UCF star quarterback, had led Leesburg to the state playoffs in 2023 before taking an assistant job at TFA. A number of Leesburg players followed Moffett to TFA in the offseason.

Despite being suspended until Oct. 31, 2025, The First Academy assistant coach Steven Moffet was photographed on the field during the Royals' game against Calvary Christian on Friday. / Alejandro Tamayo

TFA has the right to appeal the FHSAA ruling, but must do so to special committees within 10 business days. Orlando attorney Frank Kruppenbacher, who represents TFA, said he will appeal the ruling.

“The First Academy will vigorously defend the allegations made by the FHSAA,” Kruppenbacher told The Orlando Sentinel. “As a longtime member in good standing with the FHSAA, we find ourselves once again puzzled and disappointed. Their scrutiny of our admissions process led them to conclude that innocuous date irregularities in the enrollment process should result in the most draconian sanctions imaginable.

While The First Academy has been cooperative and respectful, their colleagues at the FHSAA have remained insolent and trenchant,” Kruppenbacher said. “Those suffering the most are those the FHSAA is supposed to serve, the innocent student-athletes. It is unsurprising that the Florida Legislature has repeatedly taken steps to dismantle the FHSAA because of their disregard for common sense educational practices.”

This is the latest FHSAA ruling against TFA, where Moffett earlier this season set up an Uber ride for an athlete and four players were given free lunches. A successful appeal by the school shortened the penalty for the athletes.

TFA, under the guidance of second-year coach Jeff Conaway, had been one of the year’s biggest turnaround stories. The Royals, who went 6-4 year a year ago, reeled off six consecutive victories this year before falling to Georgia power Rabun Gap-Nacoochee in a barnburner, 49-42.

TFA’s biggest victories – 28-24 against Edgewater, 39-13 against Orlando Christian Prep, and 36-25 against Seminole – now are all forfeits.