Two GTA Programs Get in Some Hot Water

Granted, they aren't CWOSSA teams but some interesting news nonetheless.

The Loyola (Oakville) Hawks, the current #2 GTA team (before their loss to St. Thomas More today) ended up facing a complaint for attending a tournament in St. Petersburg, Florida without prior approval from OFSAA.

OFSAA guidelines state that it needs to approve teams 30 days in advance of the event when a team is playing in tournaments outside of Ontario (i.e. across the US and Canada).

According to the article in Friday's Toronto Star, the Hawks likely won't face any penalties for the oversight.

The news wasn't quite as good for the Father Henry Carr "A" junior boys team.

The Crusaders, arguably the best junior team in the province this year, were 9-0 in league play entering this week's action. However, as a result of using guard Josh Bell (who is in grade 10 but three months older than the age limit for junior players), Carr was stripped of 8 league wins. Now 1-8, the Crusaders will miss the TDCAA playoffs entirely.

Carr Senior coach Paul Melnik, who is in charge of eligibility for all their teams, told the Star that “when I checked age regulations I went through an older version of the league constitution and I take full responsibility for what has happened.”

Definitely a couple of unfortunate situations. Hopefully, we can all learn from the mistakes.