Miyoshi Price
•8/21/2026
FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK)—A Southwest Florida softball coach who led his team to back-to-back state championships has been suspended for one year after the Florida High School Athletic Association found he violated its recruiting policy.
Johnny Manetta built a winning program at Evangelical Christian School (ECS) with state championships in 2024 and 2025. He can no longer coach or attend any interscholastic softball game for one calendar year.
"I was blindsided about the fact that they said, you know, came out like this. I had no idea," Manetta said.
The Florida High School Athletic Association found Manetta violated its recruiting policy. The association pointed to texts he sent a player enrolled at another school, telling her she needed to switch back to ECS or he couldn't help her.
Manetta doesn't deny sending them. The family of the player says she was taken out of ECS and enrolled into Dunbar High School.
"I did not know that it had happened so quickly that she was already at a different school. All I know is that she had been withdrawn from the school that I was at," Manetta said.
The player's father says he knew Manetta was communicating with his daughter and trusted him. The player's grandmother says she and the player's mother helped file the complaint, claiming some of the coach's communication with the player was manipulative.
Manetta rejects that characterization.
"I told her that I couldn't help her if she was not at my school. That's what I said... I didn't say she couldn't get better," Manetta said.
The complaint also raised questions about the player and her father living at a home connected to Manetta's family. The Florida High School Athletic Association did not sanction Manetta over the housing allegation but did suspend him over the text messages.
Manetta says he's fighting the ruling.
"We're gonna file an appeal and, you know, hope for the best," Manetta said.
According to the association's documents, ECS was separately fined $2,500 and placed on administrative probation for a year. The softball team can still play.
