Wash. County DA probing youth football finances

WPYFL president Bill Spencer tendered his resignation March 11.

The largest youth football league in Pennsylvania is part of a police probe as officers investigate accusations of financial impropriety and the league’s former president suddenly and unexpectedly resigned this week.

The league, which includes 44 organizations and 140 teams across seven counties, is under investigation by the Greene County Regional Police, according to Chief William DeForte. He said his department was approached by concerned parents and league members regarding money that they say is missing from the league’s bank account.

Sarah Reeping, president for the Derry Area Midget Football program, said program representatives attended an emergency league meeting last weekend.

“They were told that there were funds they couldn’t account for, and that the league’s bank account had been closed,” Reeping said.

In a letter to the league dated March 11, longtime director Bill Spencer announced his resignation, effective immediately.

The letter did not indicate why Spencer was resigning. He could not be reached for comment.

“I’m in shock over this,” said Denise Hafer, previous president of Derry youth football. “We’ve been in the league for about six years, I’ve been doing youth football for 15 years, and WPYFL was the smoothest organization I’d been part of. It was such a well-oiled machine that this is really unbelievable.”

The league’s account is funded through the $5 gate fee charged to those who attend league games.

“The referees get paid out of that, and the remainder gets sent to the league, where they use the money to help fund the playoff games, to buy trophies for the kids and to help pay for a Senior Bowl for sixth graders who are graduating out of the league,” Hafer said. “At the end of the year, the leftover money is divided up among the 44 organizations in the league.”

Some individual teams also keep their own bank accounts, funded through their player registration fees. Reeping and several other league coaches said those accounts are not affected.

Hafer said checks sent from the league back to teams at the end of the football season were regularly between $4,000 and $6,000.

She said a page on the league’s website with contact information was removed in recent days.

Reeping said at the league’s emergency meeting, new leadership was voted in following Spencer’s departure. Interim league president Jared Lowe could not be reached for comment.

Spencer was voted president of the league — then called the Washington- Greene Youth Football League — in 2013 and grew it to include teams from five other western Pennsylvania counties. In 2020, the name was changed to the Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League.

The league, which supports thousands of young football players and cheerleaders, is working to address concerns regarding the upcoming season.

“This is way more than just one person. This is about a whole community of western Pennsylvania that’s going to be affected by this,” said Jared Lowe, the newly-appointed acting interim director of the WPYFL.

Initial reports of possible embezzlement were taken by the Green County Regional Police but have since been handed over to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office. DA Jason Walsh confirmed to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4, Friday morning that his office was looking into the allegations.

No one is facing charges at this point in the investigation.

The investigation was sparked after a former executive board member convened an emergency meeting Wednesday night to discuss financial discrepancies. During the meeting, the resignation of Bill Spencer, WPYFL’s director for the past 12 years, was submitted via letter.

“Please accept this letter as my resignation as the league director of the Western Pennsylvania Youth Football League effective immediately,” Spencer said in the letter.

Spencer was not present at the meeting. When reached by WTAETV Thursday, Spencer confirmed his resignation but declined further comment.

Despite the allegations and financial uncertainties, Lowe assured the league’s organizations that the upcoming season will proceed as planned. He said, in a meeting with the league’s bank and police, he was able to confirm sufficient funds remain.

“At this point, it looks like everything will be OK. We can move forward, but what we want to do is with a treasurer, appoint a treasurer with multiple treasurers across every individual organization for the league to have complete transparency of the bank account,” Lowe said.

To prevent future issues, Lowe proposed implementing financial safeguards, including appointing multiple treasurers across all league organizations for transparency.

“Know that – one: transparency will always be the top priority from here moving forward. Two: that this will never happen again, and we will make sure and ensure of it. And also that there will be a person that, from each individual organization, that will see records of what is going on from this point forward,” Lowe said.

Bank records and account statements have been handed over to authorities as the investigation continue. Lowe plans to arrange a meeting with league representatives, and organization presidents, and treasurers to ensure greater financial oversight moving forward.

A number of local associations that participate in the league have taken to Facebook and social media posting similar statements to assure their members that their teams’ finances have not been affected.

“As some of you may have heard, there has been a significant issue withing the (WPYFL). RYAFA, along with 43 other organizations involved in the (league) have been notified that most of the funds are missing from the WPYFL board account and the account is now frozen. This is an unfortunate situation leaving all 44 organizations at a loss,” the statement reads. “Most importantly, RYAFA’s ACCOUNT REMAINS SECURE!”

The statement goes on that the association and teams in the league are “determined to get to the bottom of this and still provide a great season for our families.”

The league released a statement on its Facebook account that it had successfully regained access to their account and new officers have been named. The statement was posted around 3:30 p.m. Friday.

The league responded to questions from followers, including one that mentioned the league will now have at least two board members with access to the account as well as the league treasurer sending monthy reports to member organizations. There will also be a finance committee established in an effort to assure a similar situation won’t happen again.

The WPYFL currently consists 44 member organizations, 138 teams that represent 43 different school districts in seven Southwestern Pennsylvania counties covering 3,061 square miles.

The teams include: Albert Gallatin, Avella, Baldwin Whitehall, Bentworth, Beth-Center, Bobtown, Brownsville, Burgettstown, California, Carlynton, Carmichaels, Charleroi, Chartiers- Houston, Connellsville, Derry Area, Elizabeth Forward, Fort Cherry, Frazier, Greater Latrobe, Greensburg Salem, Hempfield, Jefferson Morgan, Keystone Oaks, Laurel Highlands, McGuffey, Monessen, Montour, Mount Pleasant, Norwin, Ringgold, Rostraver, Seneca Valley, South Allegheny, Southmoreland, South Park, South Side Beaver, Trinity, Union Finley Uniontown, Washington, Waynesburg, West Allegheny, West Greene and Yough.