SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Boys Varsity Soccer Bluffton HS banned from 2009 playoffs ...

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An ugly ending to the Bluffton High School soccer team's season in May will cost next year's squad a chance to compete for a state championship.

On Friday, the South Carolina High School League executive committee upheld commissioner Jerome Singleton's ruling to ban the Bluffton boys from postseason play in 2009 because of an incident that took place in a season-ending playoff loss on May 6.

With the Bobcats trailing 4-2 to Airport High School in that contest, Bluffton's J.P. Sandoval received a red card with time winding down on the Bobcats' season. His teammate, Erick Velez, responded by shoving the center referee, effectively ending the game.

Bluffton athletics director Dave Adams received news Monday that the team would be banned from participating in postseason play, a decision he immediately appealed to the executive committee.

Adams argued that the school's punishment -- which included a suspension for Velez -- was strict enough, and therefore no additional penalties were necessary.

The executive committee disagreed, denying the appeal on Friday.

"We have more problems in soccer than any other sport," Ted Greene told the (Columbia) State on Friday. Greene, the principal at Mullins High School, is an executive committee member. "We have got to send a strong message."

Adams said Velez is no longer at Bluffton High School, and that he won't be a part of the Bobcats soccer team next season. But that didn't affect the committee's ruling Friday.

"It's unfair to hold the rest of the team responsible," Adams said. "But it's a life lesson. If you are part of a team, you have to pay the consequences of the team. ... I just hate it for the seniors."

Bluffton still will play its full slate of regular season games next spring. And it will be allowed a chance to win the Region 7-AAA championship, a title claimed by Hilton Head Island High School last season.

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Is there any proof to his statement??? Or is it that every little thing that happens in our sport, they blow it up as a big issue?

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Good question!



We know that every high school in the state has an athletic director either at the school itself or at the district level. There are various schools of size depending on what part of the state you live. Obviously, Mullins HS is a Class 2A school in a relatively rural area of the Pee Dee region. This Principal or ADs mindset is that of many in the S.C. High School League when they hear that "soccer leads all sports in the number of ejections".

Well, what they don't understand is that soccer's rules are unlike any other in prep athletics. In football, a personal foul results in a 15-yard penalty. In basketball, five personal fouls results in an ejection. In baseball, a pitcher throwing at a batter winds up being a warning. In soccer, a tackle from behind can be interpreted as a straight-red card, though it might be a "professional foul" in the realm of the soccer world. So, when these start tallying up around the Palmetto State, then prep soccer receives a black-eye.

Will it change? Probably not in my lifetime, but the S.C. High School Soccer Coaches has worked diligently at relaying this message at various levels with the SCHSL, the S.C. Athletic Coaches Association, etc. However, an AD or Principal with 30 years under his belt and who probably was reluctant to add soccer in the first place at their school -- note, Mullins has not won a boys soccer match in at least five years (2004-08) -- and you are going to get some backlash whether it is deserved or not.

In the Midlands area, local sports radio personality Teddy Heffner of AM-1400 "The Team" hosts a daily show from 7-10 a.m., entitled "Talking Sports". Nearly every Thursday, Airport AD Kirk Burnett is a guest for one hour (8-9 a.m.). I have heard him comment on soccer throughout his stints at Ridge View HS (football/baseball coach) and Airport (AD/football coach) as having 'problems' that ADs have to deal with constantly. He said this past spring that 'every soccer season its the same discipline problems' with soccer.

I'm not blaming anyone in this matter, but it is something that coaches, players, parents, fans, and referees need to be cognizant of and an area in which needs to be addressed and worked on even more by people involved with 'our game'. If you have any suggestions, please list them in this thread.