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Dear Anaheim Surf Parents,
I’d like to reach out to all club members to personally congratulate our Girls 2006 team coached by Brent Whitfield on their State Cup Presidents Championship this past weekend, and also address the controversy that unfortunately was attached to their tournament wins.
6 days before the team was due to play in the semifinals of State Cup, Cal South Protest, Appeals and Disciplinary (PAD) informed us that a team had filed a complaint alleging that one of the players on our team was an overaged player and had played during the 2016-17 regular season and in the tournament. Cal South PAD requested additional documentation, which our registrar immediately provided in the form of a copy of the player’s original birth certificate that we felt proved that our player was indeed playing in the correct age group.
Because of a conflicting document in an old record found in the Cal South system, that was uploaded prior to this player joining Anaheim Surf, a ruling was made to disqualify our team from State Cup. We were unaware of the documentation until this past week. On Thursday, two days before the semifinal game, after learning of the disqualification from an update of the State Cup results page, we immediately appealed the Cal South PAD findings to the State Cup Appeals Committee (SCAC). Our appeal was granted and was heard by the SCAC on Friday.
We provided, and Cal South SCAC reviewed the following documentation: 1) An original birth certificate, 2) An alternate form of picture ID, and 3) Enrollment records sent directly from the player’s school that all confirmed the player’s 2006 birthday. After the SCAC reviewed the documentation they concluded that there was no violation of Cal South Rule 9.4 and verified the age correctly of the player as a 2006 birth year, thus overturning the decision to disqualify our team from State Cup. The findings from SCAC are as follows:
Subject: SCAC Appeal Decision: ANAHEIM SURF 2006 - WHITFIELD
The determination to overturn the decision to disqualify Anaheim Surf 2006- Whitfield, team 0365-01CG06-1036, from the Cal South State Cup competition was a result of reviewing all documentation provided and interviewing multiple individuals by the State Cup Appeals Committee (SCAC). Among the documents provided was the original birth certificate and school records. The SCAC has determined that the Cal South State Cup Rule 9.4 was not violated as the determination letter from Craig Mues stated.
We perform our due diligence to the best of our ability every year when registering new and returning players in our club. Despite the clear evidence to the contrary, some in the soccer community continue to accuse our club of cheating by rostering an overage player. Let me emphatically state: we have only ever seen evidence that the player is correctly rostered and we believe the overwhelming evidence bears this out. I established this club 19 years ago and strive every day to operate in an ethical manner. Cheating to gain an advantage is something we have never done, and will never do.
If you’d like to talk to me in person or via phone about this matter, don’t hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Eddie Carrillo
Anaheim Surf Club Director
Chapman University Director of Soccer Men’s Head Coach
