Eligibility: CUE Curling-Holowaychuk

2017-18 Season

February 16, 2018

Facts:

Cody Holowaychuk is a member of the CUE Men’s Curling team and is a student at CUE, which seeks a ruling that he is eligible to compete in this weekend’s ACAC Curling Championships.

During the Fall of 2017, Mr. Holowaychuk took 9 credit hours at CUE, successfully completing 3 of those credit hours. However, Mr. Holowaychuk also took 6 credit hours at NAIT and successfully completed two courses in Inter Financial Accounting and Taxation. CUE has confirmed that the two NAIT courses are fully transferrable into Mr. Holowaychuk’s field of study at CUE and will count towards his CUE degree program.

At the present time, Mr. Holowaychuk is registered as a full time student at CUE, enrolled in 9 credit hours.

Ruling:

The relevant provisions of Article I Section 5 of the ACAC Operating Code state as follows:

1.1. Academic Load and Status 
To be eligible for ACAC competition, a student-athlete must be enrolled as a fulltime student in post secondary courses, in the semester of participation at the accredited post-secondary institution for which he/she represents.

1.1.1. Full-time Status: The ACAC defines full-time status as being enrolled in a minimum nine (9) credit hours (or equivalent as determined by the institution’s Registrar) in each semester in which they participate in ACAC competition.

1.1.4.3. Two Semester Participation 
To be a student in good standing, a student athlete must pass eighteen (18) credits in an academic year to be eligible to participate in the subsequent semester and must pass a minimum of six (6) credits in the September – December semester to be eligible for the January – April semester. If the student athlete does NOT earn the required 6 credits (or equivalents) between Sept. to Dec., the student athlete is immediately ineligible for participation in the winter semester and is subject to the conditions of the Reinstatement Rule. If the student athlete passes six (6) or more credits in fall semester academic progress is measured again by August 31st to determine if the student athlete has earned the required eighteen (18) credits over the academic year.

Rule 1.1 requires that a student-athlete be enrolled as a full time student during his semester of participation at the institution that he represents. Despite taking additional courses through NAIT, Mr. Mrak has confirmed that Mr. Holowaychuk complied with Rule 1.1 during the Fall semester and continues to comply with Rule 1.1 during the Winter semester.

Rule 1.1.4.3 required Mr. Holowaychuk to have successfully completed 6 credit hours during the Fall semester to be deemed eligible for the current semester. The rule is silent as to where those credit hours are to be completed. Between the course Mr. Holowaychuk successfully completed at CUE and the two courses he successfully completed at NAIT (which have been transferred to his CUE degree program), Mr. Holowaychuk successfully completed 9 credit hours during the Fall semester. Rule 1.1.4.3 is intended to ensure that student-athletes achieve a certain level of academic success (successful completion of at least 6 credit hours) during the Fall semester in order to remain eligible for the Winter semester. Although the rule does not contemplate a student-athlete taking courses simultaneously at two of our member institutions, I am convinced that Mr. Holowaychuk’s successful completion of 9 credit hours during the Fall 2017 semester more than satisfies the spirit of Rule 1.1.4.3, particularly given that the two NAIT courses will count toward Mr. Holowaychuk’s degree program at CUE.

Based on the above, I deem Mr. Holowaychuk eligible to compete in the 2017-18 ACAC Curling Championships from February 16-18, 2018. 

Sincerely,

Bill Hendsbee 
ACAC Commissioner