It’s been just over a week since an eligibility mistake cut short the men’s soccer team’s play-off dreams, and captain Rob Rupf is excited to get back to his homework.
“It was almost a pleasure coming back and doing school work as scary as that sounds,” says Rupf.
Not so scary when you understand he and the rest of the team have been putting in long hours with the athletics department’s administration since the OUA announced on Oct. 30 that the Blues had forfeited their whole season for fielding player Tom Kouzmanis.
It was discovered last month that in 2001 Kouzmanis broke CIS rules by playing for both the Blues and a professional club in the same year, and not waiting the one year period required between professional and amateur play. CIS rules required Kouzmanis be penalized a year of eligibility for his infraction. Now with his period of eligibility reduced from five to four years, Kouzmanis’ 2003 season was effectively one over the limit. Bad news for the Blues, since all games he played would now be counted as losses and he played in them all.
The saga sparked local and national media interest, but this week some positive press came the men’s soccer team’s way. Rupf was named the North/West OUA MVP and selected for the division first tier all-star team. Other Blues who made the cut were George Davis, Michel D’Angelo, and Sean Meyers. Davis was also named the divisional rookie of the year, while head coach John Vidovich nabbed the North/West’s coach of the year honours.
Rupf was also named a Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) first string all-Canadian. But, though he says he appreciates the recognition, Rupf isn’t revelling in his awards.
“It’s an honour to be recognized by all the coaches within the OUA conference [who vote on the athlete selection],” explains Rupf, “but for me, the ultimate goal was to go to and win the nationals.”
This year’s team with its high level of talent and depth was capable of reaching that goal. “Our starting 11? We didn’t have one. We had a starting 16,” says Rupf, adding that “of the five years I’ve been here, this was the best team I’ve been associated with.”
Rupf describes the team’s reaction to the bad news the day they showed up for their last practice before the play-offs. Head of the soccer program Jim Lefkos, coach Vidovich, and Kouzmanis brought the team up to speed. The main feeling was frustration, Rupf says, from not knowing what was going on or what would happen. Then there was the element of pure shock. “It just sort of blind-sided us,” he says.
Pierre Grossi, a four-year team vet, sums up his reaction simply: “it killed me.”
“I had the same reaction as every guy on the team. I was devastated,” Grossi adds. He explains how close he and his teammates had become in the short season-“this was our life for two or three months…I was close to tears. Some guys were in tears,” he said.
Both Grossi and Rupf say the team isn’t holding a grudge against Kouzmanis and have remained close, scrimmaging and going out pubbing as part of the healing process. “Everyone knows this was an honest mistake,” says Rupf, re-iterating the team’s solidarity. “We didn’t cheat. If he [had thought] he was ineligible, bottom line, he wouldn’t have played. Tommy is still a vital part of the team,” Rupf says. Kouzmanis has been involved with the team for the past ten years as both a coach and player.
But while the events left the team feeling frustration and devastation in the short term, Grossi says since first finding out about the situation they’ve been working hard with the athletics administration to first try to appeal the ruling and then after that failed, to turn the situation around.
The scandal has motivated the program to turn words into actions. “This made us realize how special and how unique [the Blues soccer program] is,” says Grossi. The team now plans to organize an alumni newsletter, increase fundraising events, head on a possible trip overseas, and host a high school tournament to aid in recruiting.
Meanwhile, the CIS continues its investigation. The unpleasant possibility of further sanctions for U of T from both the CIS and the OUA loom, but Rupf and Grossi stress the team is looking to the future. “We were devastated,” says Grossi, “but we’ve taken those feelings and turned them into something positive.”
