The Valley Center High School varsity football team came so close to capturing its fifth CIF championship this season, falling to Madison 40–14 at Qualcomm Stadium in December.But now, it turns out the game shouldn’t have happened.
The CIF San Diego Section has notified both Valley Center and Madison that an ineligible player was used by the Warhawks, which would wipe out 11 of Madison’s wins this season.
There is a 15-day waiting period for the schools to review the findings and appeal, if they so choose.
The big question is, what will happen to the CIF Division IV championship?
“It’s unfortunate for everybody,” said VCHS principal Ron McCowan. “We feel like everybody got cheated out of a championship—Madison, us, the other schools in Division Four—it shouldn’t have happened this way.”
No one seems to know whether the championship will be awarded to Valley Center by virtue of a forfeit, or if the title will simply be vacated. But McCowan says that’s not what he’s worried about.
“We’re not real interested in winning a championship that way,” he said. “What we are interested in is making sure that we’re all held to the same set of rules and that we have a level playing field for everybody. The rules we have in place are pretty good, but only if they’re followed.”
VCHS varsity football coach Rob Gilster echoed the concern for ensuring fair play in the future.
“To me, they beat us on the field with one ineligible guy, so it is what it is,” he said. “But, as a coach, if I’m held to a standard by my principal, my athletic director and my superintendent, I want to be sure that other coaches are being held to that same standard. We went through this same process with two players who were ineligible this year, and if it’s that way for us, it has to be that way for everybody.”
No matter what the final outcome is, neither McCowan or Gilster seems pleased by what’s happening.
“It adds a feeling of bitterness,” McCowan said. “Our kids don’t get to celebrate a championship, their kids don’t get to, and nobody wins.”
“Everybody loses,” Gilster added. “We try to teach these kids life lessons. Every day, you make choices, and we want to see them make good choices. This is a bad deal, but we have to look forward and ask, ‘Does this make all of us better next year?’ We just have to keep moving forward and make sure we’re all on the same page.”
1 comment:
REALLY , OMG IM GO NEED VALLEY CENTER TO SUCK IT UP MADISON WON FAIR AND SQUARE THERE WERE NOT ANY INELIGIBLE PLAYER OR PLAYERS. THE TYPE OF COACHING STAFF MADISON WARHAWKS HAVE IS AWESOME AND THEY WOULD NOT JEOPARDIZE ANY REGULAR GAME LET ALONE A TITLE GAME THAT THEY WORKED SO HARD FOR.PUT IT THIS WAY IF VALLEY CENTER WOULD HAVE WON THEY WOULD NOT BE MAKING THESE KIND OF ALLIGATIONS AND WOULD NOT HAVE WRIITEN AN ANONYMOUS LETTER.
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