SC Soccer Forums SCSoccer.com Forums Girls Varsity Soccer Does West Ashley have to forfeit?

Received this e-mail from Mr. Daniel Jordan (danieljordan@knology.net) on 5/24/03.

quote:

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To whom it may concern,

What Ronnie Matthews has done to the West Ashley Wildcats is by far the most eggregious act in the history of high school sports. Taking away a trophy on a technicality which had no impact whatsoever on the way the game turned out is outrageous and heartless. If such a ridiculous rule was in place it should have been identified and investigated during the game; and West Ashley should have been told they must forfeit before the completion of the match. From what I understand the game went into two overtimes and left the girls on both teams physically and emotionally drained. This decision is bad for all concerned. I am not a father, friend or coach of any of the West Ashley girls. I am simply a fan of soccer. This decision is a testimant to the fact many Americans have no understanding of the game's value; not the least of which is this executive director, Ronnie Matthews. I hope he sleeps well knowing that he has broken the hearts of a number of girls, lessened the value of a state championship trophy for the now (unrightful) holders, and tarnished high school soccer in South Carolina forever. But, by all means, we must adhere to all rules, now matter how ridiculously artificial they may be.

Sincerely,

Disgruntled soccer fan.

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Here's an interesting editorial that was in the Greenville News this morning...

I want to say that I am not associated with either team. My daughter doesn't even go to public school. The following is an editorial in the Greenville News today .

The Girls 2003 AAAA State High School final soccer game May 16th in Columbia bewteen Mauldin and West Ashley was a demonstration of the good and bad in high school athletics.

During the first 10 minutes of the game, four students from West Ashley decided to watch the game from the Mauldin side of the field. They stood next to the Mauldin students in order to try and get reaction. When Mauldin forward Kelly Schneider went down to an injury after a collision with the West AShley goalie and lay on the field for 10-15 minutes, obviously in great pain, one of the fans yelled " do it again West Ashley".

Mauldin lost the game 3-2 in sudden death and instead of celebrating the victory, the West Ashley players ran over to the Mauldin side of the field totaunt, yell and literally stick out their tongues toward the Mauldin players, students and fans.

Mauldin shuld hold its head high and be proud of a great season. You made your school, your classmates,your community and your parents very proud.

Soccermom and Observer--I do not need a hitory lesson,my reference to the Nazi regime had nothing to do with events during the war and everything to do with the gradual stripping away of basic human rights while demanding blind loyalty to the state(SCHSL).
This rule makes no sense-I mean really,try to explain why this rule exists.Your reference to speed as an analogy is a poor one since speed limits are clearly posted out in the open to see.You will find yourself challenged to find this obscure rule in THE STATE manual.
It is a shame that we cannot always control our fans and I will grant you that poor sportsmanship does still exist,but in all of the above posts there is not the mention of anything Mauldin players or fans did wrong.Think about it--surely we would have heard of WA poor behavior before this game-at Wando,nope-vs JI,nope-any time this season-you guessed it.Kids just dont walk over to another group without some type of prvocation.
Think about an episode of Law and Order you may have seen where you find yourself getting mad at the end when some slick lawyer gets his obviously guilty client off on some legal technicality.Now you know how alot of people feel.Imagine the victim of this fictional crime was your daughter.Now go argue as to why this is a good and valid part of our constitution.Have a good day!

I am absolutely disgusted with this whole issue....and please don't confuse me with "CNSoccermom"....Anthony, I understood your analogy for what it was....an analogy.

This whole situation is absolutley ludicrous and shouldn't even be happening. The rule is obviously to prevent players from PLAYING. No, they probably shouldn't have been listed on the roster, and never having seen a high school roster, does it clearly state what grade the player is in? Maybe it SHOULD becuase if the rule is that obscure then that would help in reminding coaches.

I'm real curious as to how the person or persons who reported this "infraction" feel right now? Are you happy? Do you feel vindicated in some way? Can you go to West Ashley girls and explain to them why you felt the need to point the finger at them?

The girls CLEARLY and OBVIOUSLY were not there in any way to impact the game - gee, wonder how they feel?

I in no way have any ties to either of these two teams but in my opinion, Mauldin should back West Ashley and refuse to accept the trophy/state championship - now THAT would send a message to the high school league administration....and both teams would be winners.

Soccermom

Columnist Ken Burger of The Post-Courier (Charleston)

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

In all the controversy over the JV players, another point was overlooked. I was at the game, and I heard before the game started that West Ashley was thought to have one or two players that were failing classes (I actually never heard anything about them having the eighth graders on the roster.) Does anybody know whether this is true or not? I'm just curious.

I am glad I do not have a dog in this fight!
1- If, as stated, the precedent was set earlier this year when a basketball yeam was forced to forfeit a game where 8th graders were rostered
and that is how rule is written; I don't see where Mr Matthews had any choice.
2- However, I do think it is the wrong punishment
3- I think Coach Drew McNeally should take full responsibility . After more than 10 yrs in coaching, he should have known better.

i was not at the game so i'm a little tentative to make this comment because i'm sure all the rumors are not completely true. but i'm going to anyway. to comment on the letter written by "disgruntled fan"- I understand that the 8th grade players had no effect on the game. they did not play or even have the intent to play. however, to my knowledge, the rule is that you cannot have an 8th grade player on your roster. west ashley must have felt like they were an acception to this rule because the two players would not be playing in the game. regardless, just because they might have felt the rule was stupid or unneccesary in this situation, they still have the responsibility to abide by it. also, i understand that the west ashly girls played very hard in a game that left them "physically and emotionally drained" and it disturbs you that their title is being taken away by something you feel is very insignificant and ultimately, unfair. however, they DID break the rule. also, from reading the post made by observer1121- while i think that the decision made was the right one regardless of the teams attitudes and behavior, perhaps WA would recieve slightly more sympathy from others (and most certainly from me) if they had handled their victory with a little more class. okay... A LOT more class.

Thank you.