ON INTEGRITY: REGION XVI CHAMPION SOCCER TEAM FOREFEITS 5 GAMES

(Independence, Mo.) The Trail Blazers of MCC-Blue River were elated when they won the Region XVI championship in 2011 and the honor of competing in the Central District Final against Lincoln College, a game that would prove to be high spirited. With three minutes left, the Trail Blazers were down by two goals, and emotions were riding high.

In the midst of the final action of the game, players Josh Crooks and Halil Hajdarevic received red cards, meaning they would have to serve suspensions. Since the game and the season would both be over in a matter of minutes, these suspensions were easily put out of mind since the Region XVI champion Trail Blazers had put together a great season and had plenty to be proud of.

With that honor firmly in hand, the team went on to receive accolades for their accomplishments. Trail Blazers Coach Dave Owens said that “a Region XVI Championship helps with recruiting, gives positive press to the institution, and legitimizes all the work we put into building the program. We received great press coverage from the Examiner, Sonic Locker Room, and were honored at halftime of a Missouri Comets Indoor game in front of 3,000 soccer fans. It also helped our sophomores get recruited to universities. Steven Long went to Park University, Jared Bailey to Fort Hayes State, Jeremy Herrman to William Woods and Zane Christenson to William Jewell.”

The Trail Blazers were off to a great start this season as well, battling to a 3-1-1 record and 1-0 in conference, when another player received a red card, triggering memories of the hotly battled Central District Final from the previous season. Coach David Owens and Athletic Director Jon Burke suddenly realized that they had not required Hajdarevic and Crooks to serve the suspensions imposed upon them in last season’s final game; these suspensions carry over from one season to the next.

They reported the violation to the NJCAA immediately. According to Coach Owens, “Our overall record would be 4-4-1 and 1-2 in conference; however, with the forfeits it is 1-8 and 0-3 in conference. We had to forfeit 3 wins and 1 tie.” The other game was a loss.

When asked how the team was affected when they were told about the violation and the forfeitures, Owens said, “As far as telling the players, I did so before the Maple Woods game. It was the hardest thing I have done as a coach.” The promising season will be difficult to rescue due to the error.

“Many of the players were very upset,” Coach Owens continued. “I know that they were angry at me for the mistake; however, a number of them told me that our program did the right thing and they respected both Jon [Burke] and I for choosing to self-report the violation. I think this teaches players integrity and honesty. They had put in a month and a half of work, had a 3-1-1 record and had that taken away through no fault of their own. They have since responded by working hard, competing and not making any excuses.”

“With the suspensions and injuries, it has affected our team,” States Coach Owens. “We played Maple Woods without four starters and the head coach.” Owens also served a three game suspension for the violation. “Two of the starters (Vasil Ristov and Cody Braden) were not playing, but having Halil and Josh out definitely didn’t help.”

After self-reporting this to the NJCAA and assessing the repercussions, the would-be 4-4-1 record of the Trail Blazers now stands at 1-8, 0-3 in conference. Nonetheless, the team is still going strong and playing great soccer. Look for them to make a season of it over the next several games.

The MCC-Blue River Trail Blazers are part of NJCAA Region 16. For all the latest stats, dates and game play information visit the NJCAA site.