Ben Ferree, center, stands with his sister, Laura Harris-Ferree, under the marque for 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
Courtesy photo
Ben Ferree, center, stands with his parents, Marc and Eileen Ferree, under the marque for the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
Courtesy photo
NEW YORK CITY — Sidney native Ben Ferree appeared in the documentary, “BS High,” which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival in New York City on June 14, 2023. “BS High” follows the story of Bishop Sycamore, a fake high school football team, but their secret is uncovered when they play an ESPN televised game against IMG Academy on Aug. 21, 2021, being defeated 58-0.
Ferree had this to say about being at the film festival, “It was a surreal experience to see the culmination of years of work finally pay off in such a big way. As a film buff, being at Tribeca was a once in a lifetime experience. The documentary hit peaks and valleys throughout production, and I never honestly thought it would come to fruition until it did. It was a big sigh of relief to see the documentary debut to the public.”
Ferree worked as the assistant director of Officiating and Sports Management at the Ohio High School Athletic Association in Columbus, Ohio, for almost eight years. As a part of this job, Ferree was tasked with investigations of all sorts including looking into Bishop Sycamore and its predecessor CoF Academy. Ferree spent three years investigating Bishop Sycamore and telling anyone who would listen that it is a scam. Many football teams played Bishop Sycamore even with the information that the school was not legitimate.
According to the documentay, Roy Johnson was the mastermind or conman behind CoF Academy and Bishop Sycamore. He recruited anyone and everyone to play for his scam of a football program. He had players who needed a few more credits to graduate high school to players who had graduated high school two years ago. Yes, Johnson was recruiting 20-year-old men to play against 15–17-year old’s. Johnson promised to increase the student’s GPA’s, ACT scores, and help them get into D1 college football programs. Of course, Johnson could not follow through on any of these promises as Bishop Sycamore didn’t have any teachers or even a building. Bishop Sycamore had a listed tuition of $12,000 a year to attend but the students never reaped any of the benefits that were promised to them.
As people watch this film, Ferree hopes that “people realize that this issue is still a problem that needs addressed by the Ohio legislature. This can and will happen again.”
Bishop Sycamore was registered as a religiously affiliated school therefore very few legislative restrictions applied. Originally, Gov. Mike DeWine agreed to be interviewed for the film but after a 79-page report was released by the Ohio Education Department regarding Bishop Sycamore, DeWine recused himself from the documentary.
Ferree and his colleague, Andrew King, wrote a book regarding their experience uncovering the scam, “Bishop Sycamore, Friday Night Lies: The Bishop Sycamore Story,” which will be released on Sept. 1. Preorders are available now. For now, Ferree will continue working his day job and “try to make the world an easier place for people to live.”
“BS High” will be released on HBO Max later this summer. The story is told by players, parents, Ferree and Johnson.
Ferree is the son of Marc and Eileen Ferree. He is a 2008 graduate of Sidney High School.
