Forfeiture: KC Volleyball - Leslie Roasting Jr |
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Eligibility Ruling
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2008-09 SeasonOctober 2008 KC Men’s Volleyball, Leslie Roasting, Jr - On October 24 and 25, 2008, Leslie Roasting, Jr. competed for the KC Men’s Volleyball team in matches at GPRC. KC won both matches. KC submitted its ACAC Eligibility List by fax on October 15. The “Signed by Registrar” column was initialed by the KC Registrar on October 14. At that time, Mr. Roasting’s name was not on the Eligibility List. Unfortunately, the ACAC Conf Link system was experiencing technical problems between October 14-16, during which time KC indicates that it unsuccessfully attempted to add Mr. Roasting’s name to its Eligibility List. It should be noted that Mr. Roasting would have been eligible to compete on October 24-25 but for the issue of possible administrative error on the part of KC. The issue is whether KC has complied with the Operating Code provisions relating to the registration of student-athletes and, if not, whether the problems with Conf Link represent a valid defence to KC’s failure to do so. There is no reason to doubt that KC had difficulty adding Mr. Roasting to the Conf Link system on or before October 16. However, Commissioner B. Hendsbee believes that KC then inadvertently neglected to add Mr. Roasting to its Eligibility List between October 16 and the weekend of October 24-25. The October 27 date shown in the “Date Added” portion of the Eligibility List is entirely consistent with such a conclusion. Under the Conf Link system, the “Date Added” column does not appear on the electronic CCAA Eligibility Form and, as such, does not allow those completing the form to type in a date. Instead, a computer generated date stamp is included in the design of the system to verify the date an athlete is added. This feature was built into the system to prevent schools from backdating a student-athlete’s name on Eligibility Lists. The ACAC Office has confirmed that the date stamp feature was fully operational throughout the period in question. The ACAC Council has been consistent in its position regarding participation by ineligible athletes who would otherwise have been eligible but for administrative errors. A series of cases have made it clear that Operating Code guidelines must be strictly adhered to. Under the circumstances, Commissioner B. Hendsbee has had no choice but to rule that Mr. Roasting was not eligible to compete on October 24-25. Article I Section 5 Rule 10.1 of the ACAC Operating Code deals with the effects of using an ineligible athlete. It is worded as follows: Where it has been determined that a member college is in violation of the rules of eligibility and has used an ineligible athlete, the college will forfeit the results of all those contests, competitions or matches in which the athlete has been recorded as an eligible player on a game sheet or registration form. The forfeit will be recorded as per the rules governing each sport. Based on the above, the ACAC Office shall adjust the results of the October 24-25 matches to reflect forfeits by KC. In addition, a $200 fine shall be payable by KC forthwith. Bill Hendsbee |