The 6-2 record of the University of B.C. T-birds football program under sophomore coach Shawn Olson has been wiped blank because of an administrative error made three years ago, meaning the history books will instead record 0-8 for the 2011 season.
"There will be an asterisk there for a reason and that will signify the difference between what happened and what's on the record books," said head coach Olson.
The Canada West conference of Canadian Interuniveristy Sport stripped the T-birds of its six wins for using an illegible player, a former junior player from the Vancouver Trojans who had surpassed the number of years he was eligible to compete in varsity sport. The athletics department declared the violation and is fined $1,000 plus $250 for the cost of investigating the error. UBC is on probation next season.
"My first reaction when I heard it from one of my colleagues was shock, followed slowly by panic as I started to figure out that it was actually true," said Olson.
The revelation has tainted a breakout season that saw UBC advance to the conference final Hardy Cup against the University of Calgary, for which Olson was named Canada West coach of the year, an honour he will retain. Fourth-year pivot Billy Greene hangs onto the Hec Crighton Trophy for a phenomenal season in which he led the country in passing with 2,558 yards and shared the lead in touchdown passes with 20. He also rushed for 482 yards, more than any other Canadian college quarterback.
The CIS rules governing junior football players have been much debated and rewritten in recent years, and Olson said it "has always been one of those [rules] that's been a little bit grey" although he said current regulations are clear.
A player's years in junior football did not formerly count against his five years of college eligibility. Years playing junior football were then capped at two before eroding the number of years a player could compete in the CIS. The ineligible player in UBC's case, Connor Flynn, was wrongly informed he could play three years of varsity football when in fact he cold only play two when he joined the T-birds in 2009.
Olson attributes the inadvertent mistake to human error and said Flynn is blameless. "He's kind of caught in the middle of this. I know he feels terribly," said Olson. "It's really unfortunate for our players because they're left holding the bag for something that happened a couple of years ago.
"We know what we accomplished. In dealing with adverse situations, if our players do it properly, I think they'll be able to apply this to things that are going to happen to them once they're out of football and the heart of what we do here, that's what it's about: preparing these people for bigger and better things once they're done with the game."
