Eligibility - RDC Basketball - Braden O'Toole |
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Eligibility Ruling
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2011-12 SeasonSeptember 23, 2011 Facts: Braden O’Toole attended Vancouver Island University during the 2010-11 school year, where he competed for the Men’s Volleyball team. He is attending RDC for the current school year and wishes to play for the RDC Men’s Basketball team. During the Fall semester of the 2010-11 school year, Mr. O’Toole successfully completed 13 credits. During the Spring semester, Mr. O’Toole was enrolled in 9 credits. In March of 2011, the VIU Faculty Association went on strike for over a month. VIU students were given the option to withdraw without academic penalty and receive a full refund. According to Mr. Hansen, Mr. O’Toole elected to withdraw as VIU gave him the option of having over four weeks of classes compressed into two weeks, which included exam time. In light of the heavy nature of the courses he was taking combined with the cost of returning to VIU from his home in Calgary, Mr. O’Toole elected to accept the university’s offer of withdrawing without academic penalty. He now seeks a ruling allowing him to compete immediately at RDC. Ruling: At the time of the VIU Faculty strike, Mr. O’Toole had successfully completed 18 credits during the first semester and was on track to complete a further 9 credits during the second semester, leaving him with a total of 22 credits for the school year, which would have been well within the ACAC’s requirement of 18 credits for a two semester athlete, as outlined in Article I Section 5 Rule 1.1.3.1 of the Operating Code. As a result of the VIU Faculty strike, Mr. O’Toole, through no fault of his own, ended the year with 13 credits, falling short of the ACAC two semester athlete requirements. In the spirit of inclusiveness outlined in the Operating Code, I am prepared to exercise my discretion to make an exception in this case. In my opinion, to rule that Mr. O’Toole should have had to return to VIU for the condensed continuation of his classes despite valid reasons for not doing so, in order to comply with the ACAC Operating Code, would not be reasonable. Instead, by analogy, I choose to treat Mr. O’Toole as if he were a one semester athlete, pursuant to Rule 1.1.3.2 of the Operating Code, which requires the successful completion of 9 credits during the semester of participation in order to be eligible for the subsequent school year, a total that Mr. O’Toole’s 13 credits easily exceeds. Based on the above, Mr. O’Toole is eligible to compete for RDC during the 2011-12 season. Sincerely, Bill Hendsbee |