I can appreciate the frustration about Ian Kallay's situation.  A few
observations from Mike Machnik's message:
 
>Kallay is quoted as saying, "When I went to (community college), I thought
>the rule was that if the school didn't have a hockey program I could go.  I
>just wanted to keep my head in school - I thought it would help me get a
>scholarship to a Division I school in the States."
 
Kallay confused the rule concerning residency requirement for
transfer students (he would have to sit out one year if the community
college had a hockey program) with the more general 5-year rule
regarding eligibility.  Sounds like he had some idea about NCAA
eligibility rules, but possibly wasn't accurately advised.
 
>North Dakota coach Dean Blais says, "It seems pretty ridiculous that
>someone who was trying to prove himself as a student is being
>punished.  They have rules about attending a junior college but in
>Ian's case, it was a community college."
 
Coach Blais ought to know better:  a community college and a junior
college are essentially the same thing -- a 2-year college.  Every
reference in the NCAA manual says "2-year collegiate institution,"
not "junior college."  Hard to believe that Blais -- or North
Dakota's compliance coordinator -- didn't pick up on this and advise
Kallay accordingly.   Kallay's only chance is if he were not
enrolled full-time at the community college.  Not clear from the
account whether that was the case.  If he was not fulltime, then the
eligibility clock did not start ticking.
 
I've often wondered how well Canadian high school players understand
U.S. collegiate rules and how they learn about them.  The NCAA has
quite a program in the U.S. to acquaint H.S. coaches (all sports)
about initial eligibility requirements -- but I have no idea if
anything similar is done for Canadian schools or for Canadian junior
team coaches. If not, seems to me that the major hockey conferences
would do themselves a good turn by developing an information
program aimed at Canada.
 
---------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Stephen E. Roth                [log in to unmask]
Dean of Student Services
Canisius College                            (716) 888-2522
Buffalo, New York 14226                 FAX (716) 888-3190
---------------------------------------------------------
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.