In the 29th minute North Salinas countered quickly, launching a desperate high ball at our goal – it took a fearsome bounce and escaped over Gen’s fingertips into the back of the net. Such is the game of soccer, when you are never rewarded simply by your possession statistics. Goals: Good, bad or ugly are all that count!

With renewed focus the Cougars took charge. Jackie and Daniela worked the ball to Kate to make it 2 – 1 in the 32nd minute. Despite continued pressure, the Cougars could not build the safety margin they desired, and the half finished with a tenuous lead for them.

The second half saw the Cougars quickly get possession of the ball. The North Salinas players seemed a little tired after their hard work in the first half, and within 3 minutes the Cougars had taken advantage their fatigue and Daniela had her second goal with the assistance of Kate. Incredibly, the North Salinas players kept fighting for everything, disrupting the Cougar rhythm, and getting bodies between the ball and their goal when it counted. Eventually Kate and Blair combined to give April the opportunity to drive through the center and make it 4 – 1 in the 56th minute. Although the lead was beginning to look comfortable, our opposition was not giving up! Jackie was putting in a tremendous effort on the left, beating several players to get in crosses, and on two occasions even put the ball in the net, only to have them called back for offside. In the 65th minute she worked the outside angle, letting Daniela sneak the ball in off the far post. April and Blair seemed to take turns pounding the North Salinas goal, but it wasn’t until the very end that Blair was finally rewarded with the perfect pass from Daniela the finish the game at 6 – 1.

SPECIAL NOTE: Game Forfeiture:

Due to an Admissions/Athletic Dept. oversight, Santa Catalina played a (eligible) player that had not completed the appropriate CCS transfer paperwork prior to enrolling at the start of the year. In addition to forfeiting the games that this player played in, CCS banned this (eligible) player from three subsequent games. CCS makes a big deal about student/player participation – but where is the logic in this scenario? Our subsequent results clearly demonstrate that there is little or no need for cheating in our athletic program for our athletes to succeed.

The player in question was completely eligible to play for Santa Catalina, but in her (re)enrollment process the appropriate paperwork for athletic participation had not been completed. Who should be punished for this oversight, assuming any punishment is even warranted?

CSS has extensive rules in place to prevent schools from recruiting athletes to bolster their programs. Unfortunately these rules have a “zero-tolerance” approach, removing any iota of common sense when a student/player moves from one school to another. Regarding a situation where the adults in charge make a mistake, find out about it, own up about it and quickly rectify the situation, what does CCS do? - Penalize the player, punish the team and tarnish their record. Intelligent adult administrators should have the capacity and power to make appropriate and meaningful decisions for the benefit of our athletes, instead of hiding behind blanket statements of “those are the rules”!

If you have any further comments on this CCS policy, please direct them to the CCS Commissioner, Nancy Lazenby Blaser: nblaser@cifccs.org and our MTAL League Commissioner, Tim McCarthy: mccarthy@cmmlaw.com .

The Santa Catalina Cougars are committed to “Playing with Class, Good Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct”. Please email me at rodgilchrist@montereysoccer.com to receive a copy of this. The original version of this article can be found in "The Soccer Coaching Bible", put out by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America. Visit http://www.nscaa.com/ for more information.

GO COUGARS!!!!

Rod Gilchrist, Santa Catalina Varsity Coach, 831 917-3367.