Muscogee school that canceled football games gives players chance to revive season
The Columbus middle school that canceled the rest of its football schedule has given its players a chance to revive their season.
Double Churches Middle School canceled its remaining football games this year “due to the team’s disciplinary matters that have resulted in an insufficient number of eligible players,” Muscogee County School District communications director Kimberly Wright told the Ledger-Enquirer in an email Tuesday.
Wednesday, in another email to the L-E, Wright confirmed DCMS principal Michael Seckinger sent a message to the players’ parents explaining how the players could atone.
“The principal is working closely with district administration and athletic leadership to explore restorative actions that could allow the season to resume,” Wright said. “It’s too early to determine any outcomes at this moment.”
Second Chance WORKS, a Columbus-based nonprofit organization that uses social-emotional learning and restorative justice to teach children how to be accountable for their behavior, has agreed to help the team, according to Seckinger’s message to the players’ parents.
Seckinger said he has discussed this issue with former MCSD athletics director Charles Flowers, a Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Hall of Fame inductee who led Shaw High School to a football state championship in 2000 and a baseball state championship in 2001, and who now works as a senior consultant with Second Chance WORKS.
“His team of professional athletic counselors will make themselves available to us,” Seckinger told the players’ parents in his message.
If enough players and their parents attend this meeting Saturday and satisfy the requirements mandated by the Second Chance WORKS counselors, Seckinger said, the team could play its final three games of the season, including homecoming. He didn’t say the minimum number of players and their parents necessary.
In a follow-up email Wednesday, Wright told the L-E she didn’t know the number of players and parents who have committed to attending the meeting, and she didn’t answer how many must attend for the season to resume.
This story was originally published October 16, 2025 at 9:54 AM.
