Eligibility Controversy Leaves CanWest Coaches Searching for Answers

As the second weekend of Canada West playoffs begins, some coaches are still reeling from an eligibility controversy that kicked off the post season on a sour note. The details are still hazy on how it could have happened, but at the beginning of last week the Canada West conference announced the University of British Columbia men’s volleyball team had been stripped of six wins due to an ineligible player participating in those 2022 regular season games.

Those forfeitures dropped UBC’s record from 10-6, to 4-12, moving them from second to fourth place in BC. Outside of the UBC program, this change most effected the men’s teams from UBC Okanagan and Thompson Rivers. Those teams moved up to a second and third place ranking, and altered who they would theoretically cross over and play in the first round of playoffs.

What transpired over the next 24 hours was chaotic and frustrating for those teams involved, and more than a week and a half later, the coaching staff for TRU and UBC-O are still left with so many questions.

“We were coming off of six matches in seven days, we had a really busy stretch and Monday morning we are in training, and we’ve just finished all our prep for the teams we need to play heading into what was the first playoff weekend in a decade for our school,” says UBC-O head coach Brad Hudson. “Our athletic director then comes down and says we just heard from Canada West that UBC played an ineligible player and will have to forfeit all these games. It was honestly impossible for me to process.”

It was the same situation for TRU head coach Pat Hennelly, whose team had hosted UBC just days before for the last weekend of regular season play.

“How does this even happen? We have someone at our department who checks eligibility every week. It’s not the coach’s job. So, someone there fell asleep at the wheel,” says Hennelly.

The coaches were informed Canada West would be holding an emergency meeting later that afternoon and would get back to them with a decision as to what course of action would be taken next. In those few hours of waiting, the coaches scrambled to think about what it would mean for them to change playoff pools – different host cities, changing travel plans, and all new teams to scout and prepare video for. But when the conference contacted them after the meeting, it was left in the hands of Hudson and Hennelly as to what would happen next.

“I was shocked by how slowly this all moved. We were told after the meeting at 4:30 pm it would be left to our two schools to change and make adequate travel plans by noon the next day or the playoff pools would stay as is. When you’re travelling with a group of 20 or so, that doesn’t come together easily,” says Hudson.

It didn’t come together at all. New flights and accomodations (UBC-O going to Edmonton instead of Winnipeg, and TRU going to Winnipeg instead of Langley) could not be arranged in just 12 hours. As a result, despite UBC forfeiting those wins, nothing actually changed. All the teams would still be playing in playoffs, and in the same qualifying order as before.

“I think Canada West should have made a decision. It was just a really frustrating week for everyone involved. The other teams were waiting to see what teams would be in their pool. It felt totally chaotic and distracting,” explains Hennelly.

Coach Hudson found the situation equally frustrating. “It was hugely stressful,” he says. “I was really surprised that Canada West put us in that position. There were so many flaws in this process. This just seemed so unfair to everyone.”

All three of the BC teams affected by the ranking change – UBC, UBC-O and TRU, failed to make it out of the first round of playoffs. Trinity Western is the only British Columbia squad who moves onto the final 6 in Canada West.

When asked whether this last minute eligibility debaucle hindered UBC-O’s ability to perform, coach Hudson had this to say. “I love my group. This team is resilient and tough. They have been through adversity and challenging times, so I don’t know that this impacted them significantly, but it was definitely a distraction.”

With their seasons now over, TRU and UBC Okanagan will be looking towards planning for next year, but first they are hoping to get answers and see more transparency from UBC and Canada West regarding how this unfortunate eligibility problem came to pass.

“We have had so little pertinent information shared with us. We are left to speculate. I think there needs to be some responsibility taken, even an apology,” says Hudson. “I think it’s really important that we learn from these types of situations and we need to talk about it and need a level of transparency to learn from it and move forward.”

Canada West stated in a news release that USports may apply additional sanctions on UBC upon completion of its review process.