GREENVILLE, Maine — If the Greenville High School boys soccer team is to make a return trip to the Class D state championship match later this fall, it will have to overcome an additional hurdle.
The Lakers, winners of seven of their first eight games this season to rise to the No. 1 seed in Western Maine Class D, will vacate five of those victories after it was discovered the team had been using an ineligible player since the start of the season.
The oversight was discovered last Friday and reported to the Maine Principals’ Association, though MPA executive director Dick Durost said Wednesday morning that the forfeits won’t become official and reflected in the Heal point ratings until his organization receives a formal letter concerning the matter from the school.
Durost added that he has spoken to Greenville principal Kelly MacFadyen about the issue.
When the forfeits become official, the Lakers’ record will drop to 2-6 — with the only victories a two-game sweep of Vinalhaven/North Haven last weekend.
Greenville athletic administrator Jeff Stafford, who notified head coach Jeff Richards of the pending forfeits Friday morning, accepted the blame for the incident and resigned from his post later that day.
“We were using an ineligible player and it wasn’t detected on my part,” said Stafford, who was beginning his 14th year as the school’s athletic administrator.
“It ultimately was my responsibility to pick up on it, but it wasn’t detected. I feel sick about it, I really do, because this is a really good group of kids and I’ve put them in a hole.”
Richards, who is not otherwise employed by the school and works as a merchant marine, said the player involved was ineligible based on his standing at the end of the previous school year and that he was not notified of that player’s status before this season began.
Richards told his team — including the ineligible player, a senior who will be eligible to return to the roster on Oct. 5 — of the pending forfeits during a team meeting before Greenville played Vinalhaven/North Haven on Friday afternoon.
“You hate to see something like this happen, because this is probably the best start a Greenville team has had in a long time,” he said. “But the good thing about this is the guys I have playing here are pretty solid kids. They’re all friends, they’re all upbeat and they’re very positive about the situation.”
Richards said that with six matches left in Greenville’s regular season, the team still has the chance to achieve the same goals it had at the start of preseason practices in mid-August.
“I just told the kids the season starts now,” he said. “The kids know they still control their own destiny as far as getting into the playoffs and having a good seed, and they know they’re still going to have to beat the same teams they would have had to beat before all this happened.”
The 13-player Greenville squad is coming off a 2011 campaign that produced the school’s first regional boys soccer crown since 1995 before the Lakers fell to Bangor Christian 4-2 in the state final.
Greenville is scheduled to return to action at home Saturday against 7-1 Richmond, which has been ranked second behind the Lakers in the most recent Heal points. Game time for the rematch — Greenville won 3-1 earlier this season at Richmond — is 1 p.m.
“This isn’t about just making the playoffs or getting to the Western Maine final for these kids,” said Richards. “They’re after a state championship, and they believe they can still get there.
Gee, the AD didn’t resign at Lee Academy.
Too arrogant to resign.
My thoughts exactly! Maybe that AD will learn a thing or two from Mr. Stafford.
Nor should he resign. It was an oversight that was self reported. To make it more is absurd as are your comments.
“the player involved was ineligible based on his standing at the end of the previous school year and that he was not notified of that player’s status before this season began.” – the student knew he wasn’t eligible too so he must share in this, as much as I respect the AD for doing and “saying the right things” every student knows whether or not they are eligible
I think Mr. Stafford needs to be commended on how he handled the situation. He owned up, accepted his oversight, told the players and the players apparently handled it respectably as well. It is unfortunate that he is losing the job – he seems like a trust worthy man from the article.
Jeff Stafford is indeed a trustworthy and honorable individual, and as anyone would have expected he has taken all of the responsibility for the oversight and handled the entire situation with class.
Where was it said he spoke to the kids?
Mr. Richards told the players, not Mr. Stafford. My oversight. I think the players should be commended as well – it appears they handled the situation very maturely and respectably.
it was pele
The ineligable player will be eligable to return October 5. It’s not like Greenville had a semi-pro player in the lineup or some other major faux pas. These are kids playing school sports, let them be kids before they have to go out and face the world…MSPA should have been replaced years ago by an entity with common sense instead of people with Cheapskins…Oops!, I meant Sheapskins.
….or, maybe even sheepskins.
…clever post…
You got me there, Larry!
So you think the MPA (because it’s MPA not MSPA) should allow students who are doing poorly in school to play in interscholastic activities. I don’t. I think that was the correct decision and ruling. Playing sports is a privilege, and if you can’t maintain grades then you don’t get to participate. That seems to be common sense to me…
Obviously stand up guy this AD is. Hopefully enough games left to win and make playoffs. Not a bad thing to be a strong team and enter into the middle of pack for playoffs.
Sorry to see Stafford resigning. He seems a stand up guy. As disappointing as the situation is, I’m even more disappointed that the school didn’t keep him anyway.
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If the player knew he was not able to play…then someone had to tell him and know also…like the School Department..? Hard lesson to learn,but the rules are the rules…but looks like this could have been handled from the get-go.
I have a lot of respect for Mr. Stafford and think he handled this situation with a lot of class. I am sorry to see that he resigned as athletic director- not a lot of people would admit to their mistakes like that.
Most students know the rules, when your grades drop below a certain average you are ineligible to play.
but you forget, in this day and age, the kids don’t have to be responsible for anything. If the student did not know he was inelegible, then I seriously question that kid’s intellectual capacity.
Yes, the AD should have caught this, but the kid certainly knew (as I am sure his parents did..if they are decent parents who are engaged at all).
Did I miss something? He made an honest mistake and admitted it. Why exactly does that warrant a resignation? If he felt duty-bound to submit his resignation I don’t think there’s any reason for it to be accepted. This is high-school soccer, not the Olympics. Surely somebody up the ladder, or the kids themselves can convince him that he should stay.
I agree … If Mr. Stafford is truly the type of individual described above, then he would be just the sort of person I would want teaching, overseeing & interacting with my children / students. Resignation NOT accepted !!
I agree also. He has done more for the athletic program at Greenville than anyone else. We can be proud of our players and fans. Before he came I left many a contest embarrassed by both.
Hello, it’s Greenville. If they suited up a moose I wouldn’t bat an eye :)
There must be more to this story…….someone doesn’t resign over something as petty as this, especially after being on the job for 14 years?
The position Mr Stafford was put in by some of the parents at GHS was completely ridiculous over the past few years. Being, a former Greenville High School student who played under Jeff as a coach, and had him as my AD, it felt to me as at times the parents thought he worked directly for them and put unreal amounts of pressure onto him. I feel he needed to get done for his sanity and physical health. Although it breaks my heart to see someone so dedicated to their job leave I know it is the right decision for him as his situation would have worsened throughout the year with this group of parents.
Being someone who knows Mr. Stafford from being a student at GHS during his time as AD, i can assure you that he got done for other reasons as well. This was just something that forced him to make the decision earlier than he may have liked.
c’mon people, you should be better able to read between the lines than this. Greenville has the same problem every small town does: people in publicly funded jobs hang on to those jobs because administrations don’t want to hurt peoples’ feelings. Snowplow drivers, school cooks, teachers, secretaries, etc. Every town has someone not working up to par and until that person realizes it’s not working, the town is stuck with them. We’re just too polite.
Athletic Director position in Greenville is a stipended position…paying for around 14-15 hours per week. How many hours per week do you think an AD works? Try doubling that and more! This is not a contractual position.
if what you say is true…..it sounds as though Greenville has some really poor leadership regarding town government. Please do not make assumptions that every small town has the same problems as Greenville. If you want to say that Greenville has more moose per square mile then other small towns….I would be more inclined to agree with you.
Jim , I hope you and the town of Greenville reconsider your decision to resign….I was the A.D. at Rangeley for many years and you were always a very honorable person, always professional,a great role model and just a a good guy… People make mistakes. Resigning is not the answer and I understand how you feel.. but the Greenville School needs you and the kids need you… You stood up and admitted your mistake, that’s what an honest person does.. I believe this is a learning experience and your kids will be better because of it…T.D.
the Greenville school kids need someone who’s heart is in the job, someone that actually puts in the time to make sure this doesn’t happen. Yes people make mistakes but mistakes also happen when we don’t take our responsibilities seriously. I think if the AD was honest with you and everyone else he would say that his resignation had more to do with knowing why the mistake happened and not the mistake itself.
I think you’re comments sound a bit too personal… I feel you are bringing PERSONAL differences in this with the AD. That is your problem and has nothing to do with the fact that a mistake was made. It’s called a mistake for a reason.
I feel like i need to just point out again that these accusations of him not having his heart in it and that he resigned because he doesn’t care about the kids is foolish..
In the newspaper article the coach said the team would look forward and put this behind them. Sounds like back stabbing to me. Sounds like it is personal.
Usually if someone is doing the job to the best of their ability and something like this happens then resigning would be a bit a bit drastic. However if the incident is a result of not putting forth your best effort then resigning and accepting the resignation makes sense. Blaming the kid is asinine. People are paid to make sure this doesn’t happen. In a school the size of Greenville it is unbelievable that it did. To the poster that called this a petty mistake, tell that to the kids and coaches that put in the effort day in and day out, year after year. 3 of those wins were games played 3 hours away. I would never consider the kids time or effort petty.
Sounds personal.
Put it this way- if you were a long time member of the community and held a position such as this for 14 years AND were doing it well it seems to me like you would have the support of the school and others. On the other hand….
Well, i definitely agree with ‘BtweenTheLions’ this sounds like you have a problem with Mr. Stafford outside of the issue that just occurred. There is a reason why its called a mistake. It’s because they were accidental. To sit there and say that he was not doing his job well because of one mistake like this is to use your word, asinine. How about you? Ever made a mistake? One more thing, to say that he is not getting any support from the school and others I’m sure is complete garbage. Just because you appear to have some sort of personal issue with this man doesn’t mean everyone holds those same views as you. Good day “im4thekids”
Are trying to say that he didn’t have support and respect from the school and community? You are very uninformed!
Maybe mr.Stafford got done because of all the crazy parents that attack him. He may have made some mistakes as the AD but who doesnt make mistakes. I’m sure “IM4thekids” has made a few, but is fast to judge. Besides it is class D soccer. Get real none of these kids are going anywhere in sports. ITS CLASS D!!!! Ad if one was an amazing player they would be found even if the team was awful. Winning isnt everything. People need to calm down and get real.
SUCH A GREAT SOCCER TEAM THOUGH!!!!!! GAME WINNING GOOOOOAL!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Zy23pvkobU