The dust has settled for the women’s field hockey, but men’s lacrosse is heading down a similar path.
Last night, Queen’s Athletics came down with a one-game suspension for all of the lacrosse team’s veterans. The team was disciplined for a rookie party held on the night of Sept. 20.
The veterans will divide into two groups and miss a single game each, so the team won’t forfeit any games.
It’s the second varsity club in two weeks to be disciplined by Queen’s Athletics.
The women’s field hockey team will return to the pitch on Oct. 13 after a two-game suspension, which came in lieu of an investigation spurred by an anonymous tip claiming the team held a rookie party on Sept. 23.
Final sanctions were decided on Monday, when the team was reinstated to continue play. Members of the field hockey team, asking not to be named, submitted the following team statement to the Journal:
“We accept the decisions of Queen’s Athletics and look forward to giving back to the community.”
Along with the team’s return to league play, other conditions are also imposed by Athletics.
Each player has to perform a minimum of four hours of volunteer work at Martha’s Table. The team will create a peer-education video addressing leadership values, and will make six anti-bullying presentations to grade 8 and 9 students in Kingston as part of the “Gaels Go to School” education program.
The team is also on probation for the remainder of the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
“We feel we have grown as a team and are excited to be playing against the Guelph Gryphons and the U of T Blues on Oct. 13 and 14,” the statement continued.
Athletics Director Leslie Dal Cin said the team committed what are deemed “major infractions” listed on the Student-Athlete Summary of Infractions.
Athletics held a final hearing led by a three-person discipline panel on Monday.
“The team made a couple of infractions, but I’m not going to get into the specifics,” Dal Cin said.
Major infractions include actions committed by varsity athletes, clubs or teams which endanger the safety or undermine the dignity of individuals.
The policy also includes actions that affect or undermine the reputation of the University.
“We’re asking our athletes to hold themselves to a standard that is higher than the rest of the students,” Dal Cin said. “That comes with the responsibility of representing your university.”
Dal Cin said the discipline policy is part of a complete overhaul of Athletics’ discipline system, which was reviewed in 2009.
The new policy was passed by the Queen’s Senate Committee on Non-Academic Discipline (SONAD) and has been in effect since 2010.
Since then, the policy has encompassed all Queen’s varsity teams and clubs. Women’s field hockey is the first full team to be suspended since the enactment of the new policy.
“We don’t support … things like the provision of alcohol to minors, or games that can go off the rails and not be done in a supportive way,” Dal Cin said. “It’s a very fine line.”
Fourth-year men’s lacrosse player and team captain Matt Eriksen said the team’s never had prior warnings.
“We’ve never had something like this [investigation] happen before with our team. It’s new for us,” he said.
Half of the suspended lacrosse veterans will miss the team’s game at Trent on Oct. 6, while the other half will miss the team’s home match against Carleton on Oct. 13.
“It’s unfortunate, but Queen’s Athletics did what they thought was appropriate.”
Tags
Field Hockey, Lacrosse, varsity clubs
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