Selah cleared to play

[Spartan1980]

Any chance the Othello coach can try to get the latest ruling reversed? Can't understand what possesses him to try and deny the Selah girls the opportunity to play at state, only reason I can think of would be it might increase his chances of getting there also, pretty selfish. www.yakimaherald.com
This post was edited on 10/31 1:39 PM by Spartan1980if(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}
This post was edited on 10/31 1:40 PM by Spartan1980if(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}

 

[kingofqueens]

Maybe the coach wanted the rules followed. You must think you can break the law as long as you don't get caught.

 

[Spartan1980]

Selah's schedule was approved prior to the season by the WIAA, if there was a problem it should have been addressed before approval. They were also told by the WIAA that by sitting out 2 games per varsity player they would be within the rules, which they did, no varsity player played in more than 16 matches.

 

[kingofqueens]

So what Prosser football should do is not play anyone in the CWAC with their varsity squad but use a few varsity players here and there and schedule 4A and 3A teams so they have more competition. Selah has opened up a huge can of worms which will screw every school in the state. The WIAA ruled that they didn't break the rules, but what they did will cause more of them.
This post was edited on 10/31 2:21 PM by kingofqueensif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}

 

[Spartan1980]

You from Prosser King? Suppose they could do that but it might dredge up memories of what happens when they do step up the level of competition. The name Jake Locker ring a bell?

 

[TANDB6]

I guarentee that they didnt sit out 2 games per varsity player, Selahs coach thinks she is above eveyone else, bottom line enough said!

 

[Spartan1980]

Since you guarentee (guarantee) it where is your proof?

 

[kingofqueens]

Heard of Jake, had a great championship game last year. All I'm saying is that Selah may not have broken the rules but they did stretch them. Any high quality team then should do the same stretching to get better competition. I don't think that will happen (I hope it won't)because I think the WIAA will clarify their rules better. I would feel terrible if those girls didn't get to play, but hope something does happen to the coach and or AD, since they are the ones that put those kids in this situation.

 

[SoxFan80]

hey TANDB6

you've gotta be freaking kidding me man... in my opinion you are mad that selah's coach is too good. she makes those girls work, now i dont guarantee it, but i would be willing to bet they work just as hard or harder then any team in 2a (now thats nothing against the other teams its just selah works their butt off every day at practice and every day in the weight room in the off season). now i was at all but like 3 games, and i happen to know that they did sit out, bottom line is selah probably works harder then you, and you have to come up with this crap when you really have no idea what you are talking about! enough said!
This post was edited on 10/31 6:04 PM by SoxFan80if(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}

 

[gnl_fan]

This whole situation is unfortunate. It seems to me that this should have been an open and shut case, but in it's infinite wisdom the WIAA again proves that they cannot interpret their own rules. That being said, I am happy for the girls, especially the seniors who would have lost out on an experience that takes a lot of work to realize. I think an appropriate solution would have been to ban the Head Coach from participating in the State Tournament. I don't care how good this coach is IMO she has taught her team poor sportmanship. It was totally disrespectful to their opponents to not have the entire varsity team play against the lesser opponents in the league. In addition I believe that this creative scheduling scenario was totally unethical even the Executive Board stated that it was not ethical on the second page of the WIAA North Central Washingtons Activities Association's October minutes.

Coaching is about setting examples, and while I think this coach did set an example it was a very poor example. Therefore, the kids should play and the coach should be banned.

In addition, while Selah was cleared to play, that doesn't necessarily condone what they did. In fact I expect that rule changes are coming... The lesson of life, more rules to attempt to corral the bad eggs.

 

[SmithSports]

You can count on a change or clarification or definition (whatever it takes) will be in place to prevent coaches from doing this kind of "creative scheduling" to get around the rules of the association that Selah has agreed to follow as a member, yet chose to violate. The loophole Selah found in the regulations will be closed.

The executive board will have the "Selah Rule," defining what is varsity, what is JV, and so forth, in place by the time 2007 begins.

 

[idahobball]

To Spartan

Spartan,

I would not go around blaming the Othello coach on breaking up the scheduling mishap by Selah. It was actually another coach in the Valley who has a strong team who found the mistake that was listed on the WIAA at the beginning of the season. Also, the coaches have nothing to do with the rulings it is the atheltic directors.

 

[kingofqueens]

Re: To Spartan

Great article today in the Yakima Herald explaining that many of the AD's in the CWAC felt Selah violated. Aren't loopholes great!




Yakima Article

 

[idahobball]

Wow

I think the key point is honor varsity contests...hmmm. I guess East Valley and Othello Softball should send their JVs to teams not so strong and play tougher competition to get them ready for possible state. Also, East Valley and Ellensburgh basketball should look into this.

 

[lucha94]

Re: Wow

After reading the article in the Yakima Herald it seems to me that the Selah AD knew well what he was doing and did it in spite of the rest of the league. I could understand if a couple of the CWAC AD's thought something different went on at the AD meeting, but ALL of the AD's, EXCEPT the Selah AD seemed to come to an agreement. Bottom line: I'm glad the team is not being punished, but the AD and/or coach should certainly be looked at. If anything for drawing a bad light on the team and community.

 

[N-soccer]

How come when the idea of the WIAA making more rules, one of my sphincters starts tightening up? I got this bad feeling that the so called "Selah Rule" is going to end up biting someone when they least expect it.

 

[Coach_Play_Obser]

Oh, come on, N-Soccer. It is the American way. Regulate, legislate, and then regluate some more!

Everyone is quick to jump on Selah volleyball, but there is another line of thought that should be considered.

Whether it be the Selah volleyball team, the Prosser football team, or the Richland girls' soccer team, all of whom are dominant teams, the members of these teams gain nothing from participating in blowouts. The young athletes on the dominated teams gain nothing. What Selah did in its creative scheduling benefits both the "haves" and the "have nots." Selah took it upon itself to create a competitive balance, which is precisely what happened. Explain this: who was harmed by Selah's actions? If I were the coach of a "have not," I would have appreciated Selah's willingness to provide my kids with a competitive environment in which to compete.

 

[Money$$]

You gotta be kiddin me. Are you telling me it would be OK if King's boys basketball (Overwhelming fave to win 1A state - top ten team in state regardless of classification) held each of their varsity players out of two games, two players at a time, and then scheduled two additional games against quality 4A schools, calling them JV games, thus sidestepping the 20 games maximum for a school. That's BS and if everyone tried to do this "creative scheduling" it would be chaos.

 

[clank'sback]

I'm still scratching my head about WIAA's reasoning on this. Wow! Money$$...in my opinion you are right on the money! What next?

 

[kingofqueens]

Hey Coach but do those teams (Selah) gain an unfair advantage over other teams by playing that higher competition. I would think as a coach you would always want to play the high competition thus gaining an unfair advantage that other programs that follow the rules don't get.

 

[N-soccer]

I am not sure that any rules where broken, and it sounds like even the WIAA can not determine if the rules where broken. The thing that concerns me is where this is all going. Small schools have to be creative if they are going to provide all their students a chance to play. Many of our teams do not have a JV squad or have just a part of one. In the Selah case it sounds like they have so many players that they have enough for 4 teams in volleyball. So do they just sit back and play only their best players and leave the rest with no game experience and less of a chance to improve? Should they send out their worse players to play against other teams with no chance to win? So long as no single player exceeds the game limit, where is the harm?

I do have to wonder about the timing of all this since it is clear this was known about prior to the begining of the season. So why is it this comes to a boil right at play-off time?

 

[HoopzHotShot]

Well I guess that the Message that we're passing on to our here CHILDERN is that if your married to, “Donate” Enough MONEY to or know all the RIGHT people you can pretty much do anything you want. As long as you have a lawyer to FIND YOU A LOOP to Jump through you’ll be OK!!!!! This is terrible and I’m embarrassed for these LEAGUE ADMINISTRATORS! Is the lesson here ALL RULES WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN or what? I know Selah is a good team but come on that doesn't make then invincible to SIMPLE RULES!!!! What at DISGRACE! If WIAA Approved this appeal they should APPROVE all Appeals with a slap on the hand and say “JUST DON’T DO IT AGAIN” and I’d like to commend the OTHELLO AD for Standing up for what he FELT was RIGHT, GOOD JOB!

 

[kingofqueens]

If you read the articles it sounds as if it was brought up last march by the AD's and the process began in September with looking at this matter once it was discovered by the ADS. The small school thing is understandable, however Selah for this fourth team only scheduled two matches. That should not occur.

 

[Dvl@Heart]

Explain this: who was harmed by Selah's actions?
Ultimately the Selah players, their character is called into question, next years players for Selah as they too will be looked over; the players of CWAC whose coaches were willing to seek higher level of play but not by "shaping" the rules, any coach, player who loves the game to dedicate their time to it. . .

Who didn't it harm, the parents and the community member of Selah who impact the character development of these players. Another technicality in paperwork lets the ethics slip by and the AD, Coach, Principal can save face.

Selah has a great team, great players, a coaching staff that is knowledgeable and if they win this year--GREAT! But, there will always be a whisper of this scheduling confusion, hopefully not enoght to take away the shine in the eyes of the players.

 

[Coach_Play_Obser]

KoQ:

Yes, it was to Selah's advantage to play higher level of competition, and yes, a coach has a duty to expose his/her players to the highest level of competition in order to better his/her players/team.

Here, Selah did gain an advantage but it did not gain an advantage by breaking the rules. The WIAA, the final arbiter of the rules, has so concluded.

All of the "legal scholars" here on Preps can pontificate as much as they want about the "rules" and express moral indignation about those cheaters at Selah, but the WIAA, and its attorneys, have concluded that there was no infraction. Game, set, match.

 

[Coach_Play_Obser]

Devlhrt: It is a huge stretch to claim that people will question the character of Selah's current or future players as a result of this incident. The players, present and future, had no say in the matter. People may question the coach's and AD's character, but it is silly to claim that the players credibility is harmed.

 

[HoopzHotShot]

Like it or NOT the truth is that any kind of Win after this point will just be tainted. And if they feel they needed a higher level of competition their AD should have opted to say in the 3A if that is how they truly felt!

 

[Phil McCracken]

Would this have not been an issue if the Selah Soccer team had to many games on their schedule and would have not been eligible for post season play if it would not have been for a nice Quincy AD to cancel the game with Selah so they would be at the legal limit for games? I guess I am saying it happened there twice with scheduling mishaps.

 

[kingofqueens]

Even though the WIAA says no rule was broken, i still feel as do many that the spirit of the rule definately was. Congratulations to Selah and their attorneys they have pointed out a huge loophole that many may now try to abuse. i wish them the best of luck. They are a great team and program.

 

[Big Dog Vito]

Selah AD played the game and won Unfortunaletly He made the rules and won
Mybe everyone shoulds play by his rules and they would win. i HOPE HE FEELS GOOD ABOUT HIMSELF BECASUE WA=HAT HE DID WAS WRONG

 

[gooddog1]

Regarding Coach..bserved.

Everyone is harmed. Any coach worth anything wants to beat the best at their best. Who would ever want to play against a watered down team?

You say "If I were the coach of a "have not," I would have appreciated Selah's willingness to provide my kids with a competitive environment in which to compete." Thank goodness you did not coach my kid. Hopefully your tag does not denote your vocation.

 

[Coach_Play_Obser]

High school sports is not about "beating the best." High school sports are intended to teach kids how to compete, how to be part of a team, how to get along with others, and most importantly, they exist so that the kids can have fun.

Per the WIAA, high school sports are an extension of the classroom. Just as it serves no purposes to put remedial math students in a calculus class and expect them to compete, it serves no purpose to have your football team get stomped by Prosser every week, your soccer team crushed by Richland every week, or your volleyball team spanked by Selah every week. What is the purpose of having classifications (1A, 2A, 3A, etc.) in high school sports? It is an attempt to create a competitive balance. You may not like it, but that is what Selah attempted to do. They gained nothing from stomping other teams, and the other teams gained nothing, which is antithetical to the purpose of high school sports (see above).

The feelings are mutual. To wit, thankfully you were a parent of a kid on the teams I coach. You and I would have not seen eye-to-eye.

 

[gnl_fan]

I'm with gooddog! CPO, classifications (1A, 2A) exist to level the playing field. We don't need coaches and administrators teaching the kids bad ethics and poor sportmanship under the cloak of being something good and in the best interest of the kids. IF YOU WANT COMPETITION MOVE UP A CLASSIFICATION AND YOU WILL GET IT. Wake up, when there is scandal like this everyone loses. On the lighter side, thanks to the WIAA this may be the first year in the history of the WIAA that a JV team places at State.
This post was edited on 11/4 4:27 PM by gnl_fanif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}

 

[gnl_fan]

So excited I hit the enter key twice... My Bad!
This post was edited on 11/4 4:06 PM by gnl_fanif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}

 

[N-soccer]

And where is the evidence that the classifications produce a level field? I wish we could move up but that means the entire school has to move up. Works for some sports but not for others.
This post was edited on 11/4 5:33 PM by N-soccerif(GetAdminCookie() != 0) {document.write(' (Revisions[/URL])');}

 

[snapone]

Please stop making the Selah coach and AD sound like heroes by making sure all of their players got play time and that they were seeking a way to challenge their players.

They manipulated the system and were successful in doing so. For those who follow the rules regardless of whether we like them or not, it was a arrogant-disrespectful action on Selah's part.

When the new 2A Evergreen League formed there was a team that only wanted to play one league match with the new league teams and have their remaining 7 matches available for more challenging competitions--some of the teams were deemed not worthy of their time. Rude. But because of the desire to maintain the integrity of the WIAA intentions regarding competitions, our league had 14 league matches, leaving the schedule open for two tournaments. In our league, our first non-tournament match was a league match--and so was every other one.

Let me assure you, we would have loved to have continued to compete with teams that were more in our competitive league but WIAA said that was not the case and so significantly larger schools came down to our level and correspondingly to the level of play.

On the bright side, we have had to step up our play and this year we have several players trying out for club teams--even though that means a 30 minute commute. They want to serve, and hit, and set like the tougher competition. And as would have been expected, the 3A drop downs swept the 2A originals, yet we are better for it. And I thank them for not sitting their players. It felt good to earn a kill against such players and to dig what seemed like an unreturnable hit.

Selah should have taught integrity and stayed within the understood rules--after all it is high school volleyball and yes some will go to the next level but in the overall realm of life it is a game and there are bigger lessons than the level of competition and the score.

 

[Coach_Play_Obser]

N-Soccer: Classifications don't produce a leveler playing field, but that is the purpose of them. The current system does not produce competitive balance in all sports and never will, which is why Selah took the steps it did.

If the goal is competitive balance, which I it is (otherwise there would be no classifications), why not let Prosser move up for football, Selah move up for volleyball, etc.?

 

[HoopzHotShot]

I'm sorry to say but after attending the 2A District tournament I Seen Some Very GOOD TEAMS competing at astonishing levels.... I feel Selah girls made it a very good tournament! BUT many PARENTS in the STANDS (of all school) Were VERY ANGRY and were without a doubt letting their comments KNOWN about SELAH'S integrity, ALOT of them wanted to KNOW IF THIS IS THE KIND OF THING THE 3A ALLOWED and MOST parents have confirmed that when their girls played the other two Schools they “SAID” that the Varsity didn’t play…VARSITY PLAYERS did play in those Matches no matter how little most still served and set in those games regardless of the Level of competition! WHO DID THEY THINK THEY WERE KIDDING THIS IS A VERY SMALL VALLEY and these KIDS and PARENTS know each other! Its NO QUESTION this decision has UPSET a LOT OF PEOPLE WHO DO MATTER.... OUR KIDS and their ADMISSION PAYING PARENTS AND FANS! For what it’s Worth GREAT JOB TO ALL TEAMS AND GOOD LUCK AT STATE TO THOSE WHO ARE GOING!

 

[N-soccer]

I agree CPO

 

[Old B Fan]

I have found over the yrs. that many in the education field are an embarrassment. Sadly thay are often in a position of control. This will taint Selah reputation for yrs. & the hard feelings will take yrs. to get over. Also, who would want to hire the AD or coach in the future. In my opinion they do not meet most folks standards, certainly not mine.

JMHO.