Adrianne Shepherd
Independent reporter
The U-18 Alberta Soccer Association, tier four rural boys provincials were held in Stettler from July 3-5, however due to an investigation we were unable to publish results.
Stettler received bronze at the tournament, but after the investigation they were moved into the silver medal position.
The Stettler U-18 defeated the team from Peace River 4-1 and then the team from Sherwood Park 4-2 in the round robin matches. In the bronze medal match against Smoky Lake, the Stettler boys won 4-1.
The conclusion of the month-long investigation saw the Medicine Hat Vikings disqualified from the provincial tournament, for reasons some don’t comprehend.
The press release states the below reasoning for the disqualifications of the Medicine Hat team.
“Medicine Hat was disqualified due to a violation of the 2009 Outdoor Provincial Rule 7.1.3 which states: Teams declared to the Tier IV Provincials shall be true ‘House League’ teams formed at the beginning of the season without using a selection process, or from the fourth highest division and lower in Calgary and Edmonton. These teams cannot be formed just for provincial competition by drawing together players selected from a number of different house league teams. If it is discovered that a Tier IV team is a ‘select’ team, the home district of that team shall be subject to ASA sanctioning, which may involve an administration fee and possible exclusion from that same category in the next provincial competition.’
After the round robin-play and the finals, the team from Medicine Hat would have won the gold medal, had they not been disqualified and Stettler would have won bronze.
After the disqualification, Stettler was bumped up to the silver medal position.
When all was said and done; the team from Drumheller won gold, the home team from Stettler was awarded silver and the team from Smoky Lake received bronze.
The Rocky Knights were awarded the fair play award.