I know I'm sticking my next out in a public forum with this but I think that some discussion is at least warranted. The timing of the post may also seem like sour grapes as Dutch Fork ruthlessly dumped us out of the playoffs last night 5-0 but I can assure you that it is not. The game was also far from a spanking and before jumping to any conclusions that I am clearly a madman, perhaps read the Herald article covering the game. It was only a freak own goal seconds from the half that put them 1-0 at the half. Another couple of unforced errors puts us in a position to chase the game and breakaways put the gloss on an error strewn night for us. Did we deserve to win the game ? No. They scored, we didn't. End of story. However, the devil is in the details as they say.

http://www.heraldonline.com/sports/high-school/article20469387.html

So here is an interesting quote from the Dutch Fork coach “First 10 or 15 minutes they had a lot of good chances, they attacked us pretty good,” said Dutch Fork (15-8-1) coach Todd Woodward.

So what changed after the first 10-15 minutes? Enter two academy players who hadn't played a lick of HS ball for the program all season. Two game changers who turned down the chance to play all season only to be added to the roster purely for the playoffs. Scoring a goal apiece and a hand in another.

I want it to be on record that coach Woodward seemed like a real nice guy and just before the end of the game, I was very respectful in giving him my opinion on their decision and he listened and respectfully gave me his reasons. There was no shouting match, we shook hands I wished them good luck. They showed remorse at one of our players who dislocated his shoulder in the game and we all moved on amicably. With that said, I wrote to the league yesterday for their position on this and clearly stated mine and felt the same way about the issue before losing. I hope you can read from the tone of my letter that I am more concerned about the precedent that this sets and the future integrity of the playoff structure rather than simply upset at losing a game.

Here is the exchange and note the ambivalent response from the SCHSL league.

Dear SCHSL,

Do we have ruling or does the league have a position on Development Academy (national pool players) who are added to HS rosters purely for post season play?

If the information that has been given to me is correct, tonight there will be two players for Dutch Fork who have not played for their HS team all season long yet have been added for post season to help their team win. I don’t fault the players for wanting to play but I do take issue with a win at all costs mentality and fear for the precedent that this sets. What about the kids who have busted their tail all season to be dropped at playoffs?

I am a club soccer director of coaching, former college coach and watched the game grow at the grassroots level for 20 years, so I don’t write this from a position of sour grapes or fear of simply losing one playoff game. I am looking at this from 10,000 feet so to speak. This is about integrity. It doesn’t sit well with me that players are forced to choose one program over the other and have to forego their HS career but that is the direction that the US soccer federation has taken to compete on the world stage. Its a bold move that’s deserves respect to challenge the current paradigm in the US with HS and college being the traditional conduit to professional sports. However, once players in a respective school zone have made the decision to NOT play HS ball, should they then be allowed to come back for tournament play only ? We are talking about nationally ranked players who have the ability to affect outcomes. With the DA structure growing, I fear that this is a dangerous precedent being set for the SCHSL in regards to Soccer across ALL classifications. It will be open to abuse and erode the integrity and honor to what we hold dear in High School sports. Those players who feel that they can’t develop and become challenged at the HS level should not be allowed to join for playoffs only, period.

I don’t wish to deny any student the opportunity to play HS Soccer. There will be extenuating circumstances in all cases. In many cases, DA players commit and sign to play with great college programs in their junior year. Then they can play their senior year with their HS program. A fitting way to go out as a senior and I will never have a problem with that. DA players sign contracts that they will NOT play HS ball during their 10 month season. If they break contract and change their minds pre or mid season, they should be able to join their HS teams but at what point do we decide that this is fair so it is not abused and what is the motivation behind suddenly wanting to play HS Soccer ? Perhaps players should fulfill a minimum region play requirement ( 25% of your season for example ) for tournament roster eligibility. If something is in place, then please accept my apologies but I am not aware of it apart from the regular eligibility paperwork. At the very least, some kind of discussion on the matter is needed because this is going to come up time and time again from here on out. In club soccer, there is a “roster Freeze” date that comes into effect leading up to playoffs to avoid the movement of players at key moments in the season.

I am on both sides of the argument in my school zone. I have players who have come back from academy and played the whole season with us as it wasn’t for them and players who are playing academy in my zone who have made that choice to not play. I will say that there is no way, hand on heart, that I could look a player or his parents in the eye and tell them that he/their son will lose his spot to a kid who hasn’t been around all season, regardless of his talent level. I don’t and won’t ever want to win that badly. So is this something that the league feels is simply a individual school / district decision ? I think it has greater implications for the HS league as a whole and needs discussion and implementation of a protective measure to make sure that the integrity of the game remains intact.

Sincerely,

Coach Stafford

Clover Men’s Soccer

On 5/7/15, 12:54 PM, "Skip La" <skip@schsl.org> wrote:

Coach, Understand concerns but this would be a school issue whether they
allow those players to compete .-Skip

I dont want this thread to turn into a slanging match. I don't want dirt thrown at anyone as I know these topics can be emotionally charged. Bottom line, I have a disagreement and I think it deserves attention because I fear for the future of the game as academy gains traction. I simply am looking for guidance from the very many respected coaches and Soccer folk that frequent this forum because the league has basically washed its hands of it.

So with that said, i'll turn it over to you....