Spirit of Fair Play and Sportsmanship

I don't expect any replies to this thread, it's more an appeal to all the coaches and administrators involved with soccer.
The soccer community has always prided itself on the spirit of sportsmanship and fair play. Coaches and administrators have a lot of latitude in their actions to show that spirit is alive and well. Unfortunately not everyone always follows that spirit.
This was our second year of varsity status and our first trip to the playoffs. It has been an eye opener. Our girls played way beyond expectations and am proud of their accomplishments. In scheduling our first playoff game we had a little problem trying to get the ideal date. We thought we would schedule the game for Saturday....it seemed like a good day for both teams. One day later and the coach said that that wasn't going to be good..it would have to be Friday afternoon.....the opposing team had some conflicts with other days due to girls riding in parades and going to Mardi Gras Balls. OK...not exactly the best reasons for switching days, especially since we would have to leave work early...leave school early, and be real inconvenient for our parents. But as unhappy as I was about it, I agreed so that we would be playing against the best team that we could. I didn't want to cheat the opposing team of a fighting chance and giving my girls the best game that they could have.
One day later, the flu bug hit my team. I called the team and asked for a postponement (we had five days more to work with to get the game in). And lo and behold, the answer was no. Apparently the opposing team doesn't believe in the same ideals as we do. And such a "prestigious" school also. A school with high ideals and expectations for their students in the classroom, but apparently they don't believe in the same ideals on the playing field. They didn't cheat me or my girls, they cheated themselves......they cheated their girls of a competitive game, and cheated them of giving them a better sense of themselves. They didn't play the best team we could field and have given themselves a false sense of how good they are. I'm not bad mouthing the girls...they played a good game....but I'm not sure the girls realize that they didn't play our best. The coaches and administrators missed a golden opportunity to teach what the game is really all about....and I'm sorry that they missed that opportunity.
I did check with LHSAA to see what recourse I had in the matter (as I said, first time in playoffs....I wasn't sure of all the rules and procedures) and it was funny....one of the commissioners knew the opposing AD and stated that he would understand the situation and should accomodate us. Was I surprised! The excuse was that they had gone to a lot of trouble to get the referees and shouldn't reschedule the game (we still had over a day before the game was to be played). Games are canceled and switched all of the time due to unforeseen circumstances. I couldn't see the reasoning behind this.
I am proud of our girls and look forward to next year. To everyone...good luck in the playoffs.
Also, coaches and administrators......sometimes we forget what this is all about....winnning is nice and that's what we strive for....but there are other factors that play into it also. Don't lose sight of that....we are given opportunities to give life's lessons to our children....don't blow it!

P.S. I must be getting cranky in my old age.

[vision]

It is truly sad that a team has to capitalize on another teams misfortune and proceed with a contest when other options were available. Not sure of all the circumstances but sounds like one team kicking the other when they are down! I still believe the rules would have allowed for a postponement. Shame on LHSAA!

No shame on the LHSAA...they are limited in what they can do. You can't make rules for everything.
We had agreed on a date......circumstances happened where I asked for a change.....they said no....nothing I can do. I wish they would realize what they had done, considering I agreed to a date that was better for them and allowing all of their players at the game. But such is life.
If LHSAA instituted some rule to allow postponements without agreements....all hell would break loose and some people would take advantage of that. So...the LHSAA was very helpful...but I was just out of luck.

[bungee]

Always remember, grasshopper, when in doubt, take the default. According to the bylaws, posted online for the last thousand years, when there is a dispute over a playoff date, there is a state default date at 3:30 on final day of play.

[Barron]

This is correct--there is a default date when the two coaches cannot agree on a date. However, in this case, both coaches had agreed to a date, so I don't know if the default date would apply or not. Does anyone know?

The default date doesn't come into play. We had agreed on a date. If we hadn't agreed on the first date, then I could have used the default date. As I stated earlier, I didn't want to look like a jerk, and while Friday was an inconvenience at the time, I agreed to it. The next day I found out about everyone getting sick and when I asked to postpone the game to this week, I was told they couldn't. They had spent too much time trying to line up referees (remember, this was still a day in advance of the game). So I couldn't use the default date (called LHSAA and they confirmed it).

[NutMeg]

Just wondering; how did the team that did this end up in the whole scheme of things. Where did they end up in the playoffs?

[AICWildcat]

NutMeg said:

Just wondering; how did the team that did this end up in the whole scheme of things. Where did they end up in the playoffs?

Checking the bracket...they lost in the championship game.

[NutMeg]

Well then you can't say you lost to some team that got eliminated in the next round. At least you lost to one of the top teams in the state.

That's not the point.....all we wanted was a fair shake....our best against their best....we didn't have our best. I'm not saying we would have won...but it would have been a lot closer than it was.

[rivers2]

If it's any consolation perhaps this team had previously been destined to win it all and some higher power extracted a form of payback and snatched what had been ordained away from them. Although this line of thinking has already probably crossed your mind.

[shellshocker]

Are you talking about SSA?

[rivers2]

No, St. Martin