Achiever Academy ineligible girl players?

[JohnnyBuck]

Just a question. If your dad buys the school are you exempt from following transfer rules?

[imlisteningtothefnsong]

Mn_Bowhunter, here I am!! I have been quiet because my boys have left the program. We as a family helped start this program 3 years ago, not with money, but two ok student/players and lots of passion. I did believe this program would change my boys' academic path. For 2 years it did. My boys both improved in the smaller classroom setting. Their hockey skills improved as well. This year the academic setting changed and my boys found themselves struggling in one class and that was enough to be kept off the ice for practice as well as games. Minnesota public/private standards say 70% GPA and you play, Achiever had a different standard. While others can say that I am chasing greener pastures, or pushing my dreams on my boys have NO clue what has happened that has forced change in our lives. Yes, my 14 yr old has skated with 3 teams this year, but each has been better for his development and he loves where he is, and I am proud of him!! Some folks on this forum don't like the choices I have made, frankly my dear, I don't give a rip! So while I believe in the concept of Northern Educate/Achiever, it was for my boys a good start. But at their age, they did not have time left in their HS career to wait for the program to catch up with the concept. I can not comment on the girls program as I never was behind the curtain to see the what is going on. I have met CP and he seems very genuine and passionate about coaching. I said 2 years ago that there would be much weeping and gnashing of teeth if this program started winning. If the girls team was getting 10 runned every game you guys would all just keep laughing and saying how stupid the Thompson's are to keep their kids on a losing team. All the while forgetting to notice how much better their skill set was getting. I hope for all the staff and students at NE/Achiever, as well as all the girls on the opposition, that this gets resolved in the right way. That being said, I hope they spank STA tonight!!
I will stand by my choices without regret. We helped start a program with 8 daredevils it and helped it grow into something bigger. In turn, Achiever helped my boys to have the academic foundation to venture back into the traditional school, and play good hockey. There is a place for this program, it may or may not be in the MNSHL, time will tell. I still say the more kids playing hockey the richer their primary years will be.

[Bulldog3489]

Stop all the complaining, Dodge County beat them twice this year, just play the game, win the right way, and teach your kids how to take care of business the right way.....ON THE ICE.........

Achiever Academy was able to put together a team strong enough to win the Class A title in a few months. Give them another off-season of recruiting, and allow billeting, and your squad would get smoked.

[AAA Dad]

Come on AMERICAN! Don't tell me you are finished with your closing arguments?....... Not too late to get another article on the hub before 7pm.

I am not who you think I am so that gives me hope that what you think of the Achiever situation is not exactly as you say either... Most attorneys will defend either side of an issue with equal passion for their own agenda be it money or to get to an end that benefits their daughters hockey team.

So far it looks like the puck is dropping at 7pm today. As some have said here win the dang game and go to State! I will shed no tears personally if that happens and Achiever loses. It would mean back to 2-3 hours of development and training per day for the rest of the school year. Believe it or not this is why this group is here. This group has its eyes on a much bigger prize than hanging a Section or State banner somewhere. They don't even have an arena to hang one in.

[pepperpot]

"This group has its eyes on a much bigger prize than hanging a Section or State banner somewhere"

LOL! What the AAHL? Give me a break. What a bunch of idiots. You deserve what you get.

[MinnGirlsHockey]

Good for Team United. SPA is certainly peaking at the right time.

Hindsight can go in many directions. If AA did not get lumped into 4A maybe Totino would still be in 4A this year. Rather than an early exit in 5A maybe TG would be making inroads to state. They beat SPU 3 - 1 in an early season match up.

So isn't TG just as impacted as Henry Sibley, Mahtomedi, and maybe SPA/SPU in a few days ?

Actually, Totino-Grace was moved from 4A to 5A when the new section assignments were released last March. At the same time, Chisago Lakes and the St. Paul Blades were moved into 4A (with Minnehaha initially moving from 4A to 4AA, but they were later returned to 4A). Apparently TG and Mound-Westonka were intitially moved into 5A to fill the void from 3 teams moving out of that section (AHA, Rogers, and St. Louis Park - but interestingly AHA & SLP were later returned to 5A). Most of this movement is described in a Section Assignments thread started last year.

I'm certainly not an Achiever apologist, but TG being moved out of 4A had nothing to do with Achiever coming into 4A as a new team in August.

[AAA Dad]

Pooper

Your life must really suck to hang around this forum long after your daughter finished her playing days spewing venom. You should really talk to somebody about that!

Bigger Prize is something you probably don't understand or have been a part of.

National youth teams.

D1 and D3 college level play (Note play not make team and ride bench) at great schools.

Olympic Dreams

[bsterhockey]

My prediction: There is no way in H-E-double toothpicks that AA is going to state. The evidence, which I have seen some of, is overwhelming.

The question is really this: Will AA parents and coaches send their daughters out on the ice tonight to stand in front of the audience and CHEAT? I will say that I would not let my daughter do that- and she would not do that. She learned about honor and integrity at home and in school from the courses she took while sitting around a table with her peers with a learned professional, discussing the world. All of those girls are cheating...and their parents and their coaches and the lying, cheating AD and owner are backing them in their lie to Minnesota Hockey and to everyone else who plays by the rules.

And that is the real question here.

[MinnGirlsHockey]

Hill has at least four girls that live(d) in Wisconsin and actually some have play(ed) for Team WI development teams.

Maybe they all live with a host parent ...

Not sure if all these parents have made the move from New Richmond, Somerset, Hudson or where ever they lived before to Minnesota.

or are they and their parents exempt because they started 9th grade at Hill ?

Did these students start attending and playing at Hill in 9th grade? As I read the rule, they would be able to play varsity immediately if they enrolled as 9th graders even if their families still live in Wisconsin. Any other students, including 7th and 8th graders would need to move to Minnesota with their families to be varsity eligible their first year.

Regarding your statement in bold above, which MSHSL Bylaw are you interpreting this from? I've never heard of that before.

I believe all of this residency stuff doesn't matter unless there is a transfer involved. And the transfer rule doesn't apply until the student-athlete begins 9th grade (or I believe begins a fall sport just prior to the start of 9th grade). Please correct me if I'm wrong here.

[JohnnyBuck]

Yo! AAA dad. If this game is no big deal to you or your girls the do the right thing and pull your girls from tonight's game. I can guarantee it is a much bigger deal to St. Paul U and would love to hang a banner from THEIR school! Your team will have plenty of opportunity to get ribbons and meaningless trophies in all the all star and triple A tournies that you should be in.

[AMERICAN]

AAADad- good to have you back again. Were you at the airport picking up the out of state parents for the pep fest at school today? Can you tell us what state their drivers license is from? Did you ask them what state they voted in last fall?

Have you guys been at least having some conversations about the adult billet parent whose last which ironically rhymes with Tweet, Tweeting "....... i[s] the best billet child ever! ..... Any conversations with a member of the Indiana Bar, whose daughter is on AA on the elements of fraud and misrepresentation. If not, maybe you guys can discuss it at the pep fest with the kids and turn it into a credited ethics class for the day. I have a list of evidence and topics for ethics 2 after we've completely exhausted these discussions.

I was hoping that AA and/or the League would have provided answers to the simple question: Where do you parents live? Since they haven't I guess the only one left to disseminate all the evidence that the League and AA has is AMERICAN. Would you like it before or after lunch break?

[AAA Dad]

Yo! AAA dad. If this game is no big deal to you or your girls the do the right thing and pull your girls from tonight's game. I can guarantee it is a much bigger deal to St. Paul U and would love to hang a banner from THEIR school! Your team will have plenty of opportunity to get ribbons and meaningless trophies in all the all star and triple A tournies that you should be in.

I have no reason to believe AA does not belong on ice. I do know this will be a great hockey game and hope it takes place.

Sorry if I don't post anymore today. I need to get some work done then go cheer for the Aces......You all rage on to the same 200 people that read this thread 20 times a day.

[JohnnyBuck]

Cheer loud! You may be the only parent there. With the snow flights may be delayed from Atlanta, Indiana, St. Louis. Driving from the deep woods of Wisconsin and North Dakota May be tough.

[blackshadow]

Since they haven't I guess the only one left to disseminate all the evidence that the League and AA has is AMERICAN. Would you like it before or after lunch break?[/quote]

I think you should wait until after lunch so he/she doesn't choke in case someone isn't around to perform the Heimlich manuever.....

[AMERICAN]

Oh, come on AAADad, doesn't good 'ol AMERICAN get a response from you before you leave us for today? Gotta at least tell me when you want the evidence made public.

[pepperpot]

"Your life must really suck"
Actually AAA cheater, my life is really, really fantastic. I get to watch my two lovely nieces play in their home rink, for their high schools, with the friends they grew up with. No skin in the game, which makes me an impartial observer. Too bad you can't say the same, you've lost your way. My own kids had great experiences in high school and they became successful post college despite not playing in the AAOlympics. Their AD? Yeah, he followed the rules. See, contrary to your daughter, they weren't being trained by their dysfunctional father to win at all costs. Lovely lesson you're teaching her! Did you decorate her room with a poster of Danny Almonte? What happened to Integrity, sportsmanship and pride? How can you stomach looking at yourself in the mirror when you are knowingly cheating? Man up, cure your Cryptorchidism by doing the right thing and have your team drop out, or at the least sit your daughter in protest. You would do more for educating your daughter in that classy move than all of the on-line mischiever classes she is taking. Doubt you'll do it, so I won't hold my breath. Glad to see Never has come around though. I respect him for, well, nevermind. That's enough.

[Nevertoomuchhockey]

If your 4A or metro team doesn't have a contest tonight I encourage you to come out to the SPU/AA game tonight and take a stand for what's right. I know we will be there wearing red white and blue (my daughter rocking the #7 jersey if I can fashion one with old jersey and tape!) Lets fill the arena for SPU. I know one of their first line forwards is out, hope the D1 first line D is back to health. Regardless, they should be confident that their talent and the home ice atmosphere of the crowd we can provide will get them the W. Lets keep it classy boys, but if MSHL and AA can't or won't do the right thing, we can.
So brave the snow and cold and join us. Remember it's not nearly as far for you to get there as it is for the AA parents!

And awwww... Thanks pepper. Cya tonite?

[bsterhockey]

I understand Mr. Antony, acting GM for the MN Twins has a daughter on this team, playing legitimately. I can't imagine that he would knowingly be involved in something like this..or would subject his daughter to the derision that will be aimed at this team in the future. I am sure he will do the right thing.

[AV dad]

I don't have a horse in this race, but I have found this thread interesting. The charges being made here are both persistent and specific, and about 5 minutes of sleuthing on my own seems to confirm some of what I am reading.

If these allegations prove to be true, then it is important that the MSHSL steps in and holds AA accountable. These charges are not trivial; they go to the heart of why we get our kids involved in youth athletics in the first place. I don't care who represents 4A in the State Tourney, but whoever it is needs to have earned that spot the right way.

There is a place for a school like AA - I would have loved to go there myself at one time. But they made the decision to join the MSHSL, and to flout their rules (if that is what they did) is shameful, for eveyone involved: administrators, coaches, parents, and players.

[JohnnyBuck]

Here is the first paragraph of the infamous email. Not sure if I want to put out all the girls names and their parents, or do I? Let your conscious decide for me. this was passed on to me. My guess is many have already seen?

Enclosed please find the documentation submitted to the MSHSL and the
StarTribune concerning Achiever Academy and ineligible rostered players.
So far it seems likely, even with the mountain of evidence presented to
them, that they may not act in a time frame to protect the remaining Class
A teams from being harmed by a team that is, in no doubt, ineligible.


Please contact Craig Perry at the MSHSL to express your concern about this
evidence and request that the MSHSL make a decision about the eligibility
of these players/team before it is too late and your team was/might be
affected in sections or even worse, the State Tournament.




Initially I had serious doubts about the allegation that Achiever Academy
was using ineligible players. I believed that the Minnesota State High
School League had a process for reviewing and approving transfer requests
and that such review and approval had been completed - after all, they were
playing games. Over the last few days, I have been shown information that
leads me to believe Achiever Academy is indeed using ineligible players.
In fact a review of information available to the general public on the
internet indicates that no less than 7 players on the Achiever Academy
roster appear to be ineligible. Here is a summary:

[OnTheBench]

Hill has at least four girls that live(d) in Wisconsin and actually some have play(ed) for Team WI development teams.

Maybe they all live with a host parent ...

Not sure if all these parents have made the move from New Richmond, Somerset, Hudson or where ever they lived before to Minnesota.

or are they and their parents exempt because they started 9th grade at Hill ?

Did these students start attending and playing at Hill in 9th grade? As I read the rule, they would be able to play varsity immediately if they enrolled as 9th graders even if their families still live in Wisconsin. Any other students, including 7th and 8th graders would need to move to Minnesota with their families to be varsity eligible their first year.

Regarding your statement in bold above, which MSHSL Bylaw are you interpreting this from? I've never heard of that before.

I believe all of this residency stuff doesn't matter unless there is a transfer involved. And the transfer rule doesn't apply until the student-athlete begins 9th grade (or I believe begins a fall sport just prior to the start of 9th grade). Please correct me if I'm wrong here.

Here is the language of the first provision of Bylaw 111.00
B. A transfer student is eligible for varsity competition if:
(i) 9th Grade Option: The student is enrolling in 9th grade for the first time.

It doesn't say at any time prior to entering 9th grade. I would interpret that to mean that the transfer rule applies from 7th grade on, with the only exception being that a student can change schools without penalty when they start in the 9th grade. I assume this language is there to allow students and their families to choose whichever high school they want to attend without penalty when they graduate junior high, and that for any other situation they would need to satisfy one of the other provisions of the transfer rule.

[Nevertoomuchhockey]

Oh, come on AAADad, doesn't good 'ol AMERICAN get a response from you before you leave us for today? Gotta at least tell me when you want the evidence made public.

Now! Or sooner! Respect for not putting it all out there on this forum, giving the parties involved the chance to do the right thing. But unless you are planning on handing out flyers or your own revised programs tonight, it's time to go public. Wish the Strib would do so on their part 5 series since they've proven it's true.

AA should either 1) sit the players who are ineligible, or at minimum 2) ask SPU and the MSHL to put off the game for a day or two until its "resolved" (and they have to do 1) or forfeit anyway.) Don't sections have until the 16th to wrap it up??

I only know one parent of one player (completely eligible) who learned to skate with my daughter way back when. He told me a few interesting things last night -
1) he isn't supposed to be talking about this. Asked by the school not to comment publicly or privately (the first rule of Cheater Club is don't talk about Cheater Club)
2) there are 6 confirmed maybe a 7th player who he now believes are ineligible
3) when parents asked the school about transfers and billets and etc etc BEFORE they even enrolled or season started, they were told that exceptions were made by MSHL since AA was a first year school/first year program and since their players COULD NOT have started there as 7 8 9th graders they could come in as 10 11 12th graders and have immediate eligibility
4) he believes at least 5 families want to forfeit tonight's sectional final game
5) the same 5 families have already gotten legal advice regarding petitioning MSHL to have immediate eligibility at varsity at their previous and/or new school next season because they are leaving AA

This is both outrageous and pathetic.

Hope to see you at the game!

[Froggy Richards]

If your 4A or metro team doesn't have a contest tonight I encourage you to come out to the SPU/AA game tonight and take a stand for what's right. I know we will be there wearing red white and blue (my daughter rocking the #7 jersey if I can fashion one with old jersey and tape!) Lets fill the arena for SPU. I know one of their first line forwards is out, hope the D1 first line D is back to health. Regardless, they should be confident that their talent and the home ice atmosphere of the crowd we can provide will get them the W. Lets keep it classy boys, but if MSHL and AA can't or won't do the right thing, we can.
So brave the snow and cold and join us. Remember it's not nearly as far for you to get there as it is for the AA parents!

And awwww... Thanks pepper. Cya tonite?

Nobody has mentioned anything about what a shame this would be for the girls on the AA team if true. If all of this is true, then the blame lies solely with the school, not the girls. It's too bad there isn't a solution that would punish the school and not the girls. I'm not sure calling out the Dogs to go and cheer against a bunch of young girls who just want to play Hockey is the best solution I've ever heard. Just sayin....

[DrGaf]

Nobody has mentioned anything about what a shame this would be for the girls on the AA team if true. If all of this is true, then the blame lies solely with the school, not the girls. It's too bad there isn't a solution that would punish the school and not the girls. I'm not sure calling out the Dogs to go and cheer against a bunch of young girls who just want to play Hockey is the best solution I've ever heard. Just sayin....

v ce f reas n

... this isn't Winnipeg people.

[AV dad]

Froggy, if these allegations are true, then these girls are not completely blameless. This is not a U10 team; these girls are 15-18 years old, and they know what the rules are.

It would not be a bad thing for these girls to learn at a young age that taking shortcuts does not pay off in life. I'm not saying that the girls are principally to blame, but there is a lesson here for everyone.