Linda Coburn
In the wake of the eligibility reporting problems that caused both Pierce College basketball teams to forfeit their season, no detailed review has taken place to determine where the ball was dropped.
“No one has asked me to do any investigating,” said Shelley Gerstl, dean of Admissions and Records, whose office is responsible for submitting eligibility reports to the Commission on Athletics (COA).
Gerstl said that Form 3, which relates to team eligibility, is transmitted electronically to the COA and that her office provides weekly reporting of eligibility to the athletic director and the individual team coaches.
Aviva Kamin, commissioner of the Western State Conference, would only confirm that three students on the women’s team were missing from the Form 3 roster and also were missing their Form 1 (individual eligibility). She did not recall the specifics of the men’s team but said the problems were similar. When pressed for more details, Kamin hung up the reporter.
“I am not aware of any errors made by my staff,” Gerstl said. “No one has made any suggestions that there were any errors.”
Athletic Director Bob Lyons conducted a meeting on Friday to discussing the process of eligibility reporting. He and his secretary, Pat Croal were there as was Gerstl and Claudia Ramirez-Yaglian, the counselor who works with athletes to develop academic plans and who provides eligibility information to Gerstl’s office. No coaches were involved.
“We came to an understanding of what to do and the need for timeliness,” said Lyons. “Everyone was enlightened to everyone else’s problems and we worked out a good solution.”
It will now be the Athletic Director’s responsibility to review the Form 3s. “That will relieve a great deal of the problem right there,” said Lyons.
The women’s basketball team celebrates earlier in their season, before paperwork mishaps caused them to be disqualified from WSC finals. ()