After it was discovered last weekend that Central Lakes College had used an ineligible player in the playoffs, CLC administration decided Tuesday the Raiders will not accept an invitation to play in the Valley of the Sun Bowl game Dec. 1 in Phoenix.
CLC, which beat Rochester 33-23 for the Minnesota College Athletic Conference state championship Nov. 4, was scheduled to play Glendale (Ariz.) Community College in what would have been the Raiders’ fourth bowl game in four years.
Kelly McCalla, interim vice president of academic affairs at CLC, said Tuesday a player dropped a class via the Minnesota State College and University online system that enables students to do so. McCalla said, although it was an honest mistake, the player went from 15 credits to 11. Only full-time students (minimum of 12 credits) are eligible to participate in athletics.
“We had a violation,” McCalla said. “We could look the other way, but we’re not going to. We did something wrong. No one meant to, but we need to do what’s right.
“I met with the players Monday. It’s no fun. I understand their frustration. Most of them are perfectly fine student-athletes. We have the highest graduation rate of any football program in the state. (Coach) Greg Medeck and his coaching staff do a marvelous job, but a mistake was made.”
As a result of the ineligibility, McCalla was sending a letter to the National Junior College Athletics Association Tuesday to report the violation and address the possibility that CLC may have to forfeit its three playoff wins and its MCAC state championship.
“They could say we didn’t break a rule, but it seems pretty black and white to us,” McCalla said. “You have to have 12 credits to be full-time. You have to be full-time to participate. He was at 11 (credits).
“We did break a rule so we won’t send the team to a bowl game. That should be a privilege. If we as a college didn’t do the right thing, then it’s a privilege we didn’t earn.”
McCalla noted that CLC is in the process of taking measures to assure a similar situation doesn’t occur.
“We’re now looking at what is the best practice to make sure everyone stays eligible,” he said. “We need to change some things so it doesn’t happen again.”
When contacted Tuesday, Medeck declined to comment.
MIKE BIALKA, sports editor, may be reached at 855-5861. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bertsballpark.
Comments (10)
Add commentToo bad for all of the
Too bad for all of the players who were going to class. Will te administration take a look in the mirror and look at the basketball team too?
Place holds
As an academic athletic coordinator at NDSU, I would suggest placing holds on the accounts of all student-athletes at Central Lakes College. This hold is invaluable to the academic and athletic staff because it will ensure that student-athletes can't drop classes without first visiting with an academic adviser, who have sole control on placing and removing the hold when necessary. Situations like this would most likely not occur for the athletes at CLC. I applaud the administration for showing integrity and obedience to the rules that surround the NJCAA, where they could have simply ignored the fact that an ineligible player was used in the playoffs.
Disappointment
Disappointment does not begin to describe what I am feeling along with many other CLC football players, parents and family members.
My son is a captain and team player for the CLC Raider football team. He has worked his whole life for this moment and for something like this to happen seems unexcusable.
Our family, along with several others, have spent money on tickets to go to AZ for the bowl game that will never happen, so we can either go without our son or take the loss, either way it is a LOSS.
I am certainly not condoning what happend , but I am appalled that someone did not catch this sooner and the admistration should take some responsibility.
These boys have played their hearts out and now their hearts have been ripped out, with no safe guards in place to say that it will not happen again.
This college experience for these boys has been tarnished forever due to no control of their own.
Typical
The athletic director's job is to over see all of this stuff. Coach Med will now get a black eye for a lack of over sight on AD Russell. Maybe the AD should be held accountable. Wait, he is the BB coach too.
Broken Spirit
Good comment hoemberg. I agree 100%. My family and I were also going to go to AZ to cheer on the awesome 2012 Raider football team and their wonderful coaches. They all did a GREAT job this year and I am so proud of them. It was alot of fun following them this season. It was such a joyful time seeing all of their ecstatically happy faces after winning the State Championship game. What a fun day! And now this?! Tears of joy turned into tears of sadness. They have worked so very hard for this State Championship! Please don't punish the whole team for one player's mistake! This is a dream come true for them and to take it away would just rip their hearts out! They truly deserve to have the State Championship title. Please have some mercy on the players who did EVERYTHING right! There has to be another way to go about this! Have the kid who screwed up write an apology or fine him or something. It isn't fair to have the rest of the team pay for it. They put their heart and soul into Raider football with hard practices, games, working out and meetings while still keeping their grades up. They've made their coaches, CLC and Brainerd in general very proud! Please administration and NJCAA, waive this small mistake this one time because I guarantee it'll never happen again.
Angered, Saddened, and Heartbroken
Reading this both angers and saddens me. I also am a parent of a Raider football player. We are in the same situation as the Hoembergs and agree with RaiderFan. Hoembergs’ comment “Disappointment” sums up our feelings perfectly. All of this over 1 player (of approximately 50) being 1 credit short? I wonder if the NJCAA was contacted for guidance in handling this issue prior to the college pulling the funding for the game. It seems the effect on the remaining eligible players was totally disregarded. These young men have worked hard and poured their hearts and souls into football not for one or two years but nearly their entire lives. This situation and having the opportunity to play in the bowl game pulled from them is nothing less than heartbreaking.
I spoke with President Lundblad. He said he made the decision to cancel the game. During this conversation I was offered several apologies. As I told President Lundblad, at this point, an apology doesn’t go very far.
Raider Football, we are still VERY proud of you and your accomplishments!
Who pays
Does anyone know where the money would have come from to pay for this "bowl trip"?
This is unbelievable
Why oh why did this have to happen? You say you have to do the 'right' thing (how admirable of you) so why wasn't the 'right' thing done immediately? Why wait until now? I wonder how many State Champs in the past have unknowingly done this and gotten away with it? I'm not saying it's right, it's definitely not fair though. It's like a whole class of students all getting an 'A' on a test that they studied real hard for but because one student received an 'F', the whole class gets an 'F'? It's terribly depressing news. This could've all been prevented. Now the whole 2012 Raider team/coaches who basically dedicated their whole lives around football have to forfeit? Unbelievable! These are all great student-athletes and good law-abiding kids who worked hard and earned the State Championship...do not take it away. Doing this could be drastic on their futures. It'll probably make them not try at anything anymore. They might feel like, "Why bother, we won't get it anyway". They chose to play football and win the State Title for CLC. They brought an abundance of fans from all over driving many miles to watch them play. The supporting fans also supported Brainerd with buying food, gas, motels etc. Speak up for the 2012 Raider Football team, Brainerd! They deserve to keep what they rightfully earned. Like another comment was said, there has to be another way to go about this. Don't punish them all, they are our CHAMPS!
approx. $160.00 per credit,
approx. $160.00 per credit, approx. 12 credits per player, approx. 50 players. = $96,000
Take the player to small
Take the player to small claims court to get your money back