Kodiaks lose appeal process

By Lethbridge Herald on February 13, 2025.

Herald Photo by Justin Seward Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks Courtney Deemter attempts to find a shooting option through Concordia University of Edmonton defenders during ACAC women's basketball action earlier this season.

Women’s basketball team forfeits five games due to player ineligibility 

By Justin Seward

Lethbridge Herald

A decision was made this week on the Lethbridge Polytechnic Kodiaks appeal that pertained to a player on the women’s basketball who missed an eligibility requirement in the paper work process.

The Kodiaks appeal, which was submitted last month after what they believed was an administrative error, got the results this week.

“We won the right to have a hearing to the appeal,” said Todd Caughlin, Kodiaks athletic director.

“That just finished and we just got those results like I say yesterday or the day before and unfortunately for us the hearing committee upheld the commissioner’s original ruling. So unfortunately we had to forfeit those five games.”

This Kodiak player missed the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport online program component in the eligibility process, which educates players about banned substance use and what is acceptable and not acceptable to take.

“That’s what Lethbridge missed,” said Mark Kosak,” Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference CEO.

“It sounds like a technicality and in some respect it is a technicality but fortunately it’s a requirement of eligibility and that just happened to be the piece that she missed.”

Caughlin explained how the team got to the forfeiture which began when this player got caught in December.

“When it was caught, unfortunately her name had made five different game sheets and unfortunately even though she only played in one of those five, by the letter of the law in the ACAC operating code, the commissioner ruled that she was an ineligible player which resulted in a forfeiture,” said Caughlin.

Caughlin said there is no one soul person responsible for this mistake.

“So we own it and that’s a part of the self-report,” said Caughlin.

“We realize where the flaw was and where the mistake was made.”

There was also a communication breakdown.

 “That communication has been fixed and this won’t happen again,” said Caughlin.