The Recreation Services Department has suspended the men’s club hockey team for a series of infractions, including failure to file required paperwork and violation of a departmental alcohol policy, Club Sports Director Joe Lore said.

Recreation Services suspended the team for the fall 2004 semester and placed it on probation for the spring. The suspension prohibits the team from practicing, holding tryouts or playing games for more than half the season, which spans from September to February.

This is the first time in at least 20 years that Recreation Services has suspended a club team, said Lore, who has held his position since 1984. He said the string of violations is the worst case he has ever seen.

The team has appealed the decision to the director of Recreation Services, head coach Mike Morocco said. He expects a decision this week and hopes it will allow the players to focus on their two-week trip to Europe in May.

Team members distributed a promotional schedule in September that was not approved by Recreation Services and lacked required references to the university, Lore said.

Recreation Services cited the team for failing to file required travel forms and facility requests, which jeopardized the safety of players on road trips and contributed to scheduling mix-ups at Tennity Ice Skating Pavilion, Lore said.

He said that Morocco signed contracts on behalf of the university without authorization, but declined to elaborate on the nature of the contracts.

The department also punished the team for the presence of alcohol at a spring 2002 banquet at Drumlins Country Club, said Nicole Leifer, a member of the Club Sports Advisory Board and captain of the club figure skating team.

The student-run board governs all 42 club sports at Syracuse University. No men’s hockey player sits on the board. The board voted, 9-2, to recommend the action against the team after a late-night meeting with team captain Greg Mueller on March 31. Lore finalized the decision that night.

‘I don’t want to paint a picture that these are bad kids,’ Lore said. ‘They just didn’t follow some policies and procedures that were required.’

Mueller declined to comment but said the situation surrounding the suspension is changing rapidly.

The board based its decision on policies outlined in the Club Sports Handbook and detailed in a training session that club team members attended at the beginning of the fall semester. Some of the violations may infringe on the university’s Code of Student Conduct, and Lore said he has forwarded the case to the Office of Judicial Affairs at the board’s request.

The board meeting, which lasted from 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. that Wednesday, offered Mueller a chance to explain the incidents, said Leifer, a junior English and textual studies major. The board deliberated for an hour and a half after its 45-minute meeting with Mueller, and he returned after the vote to hear the decision, she said.

Mueller admitted to chronic failure to turn in travel forms and facility requests, Leifer said. When he attempted to defend the 2002 banquet, she said he presented the menu for the event. But she said the menu listed a ‘cash bar.’

The Club Sports Handbook prohibits the availability of any alcohol at a club sport-sponsored function, even if team members aren’t drinking, Leifer said.

Lore struck alcohol from the menu for this year’s banquet, which the team has planned for Friday and Saturday at LeMoyne Manor in Liverpool.

‘They don’t need to be in any further trouble,’ he said.

The suspension will not affect the team’s funding, Lore said. He said the team received $9,150 from Recreation Services this year and that it could save next year’s funding for the spring semester. The board chose not to cut the team’s funding or limit its travel, but Leifer said the members discussed those options.

Lore and Leifer were quick to sympathize with the hockey team’s plight. They both blamed most of the issues on managerial problems and said Mueller failed to properly delegate responsibility, causing the pattern of missing paperwork.

Leifer said the decision to recommend suspension was difficult – she is friends with many of the hockey players, and her figure skating team sells concessions at their home games. But she said the long string of violations left the board little choice.

‘If I went with my heart, I would never suspend them,’ Leifer said.

Lore echoed her sorrow for the team’s fate, and the two praised its positive endeavors in fund-raising and building the club hockey program. But despite his affinity for the team, Lore couldn’t ignore its problems. He is responsible, he said, to make sure every team plays by the same rules.

The decision won’t affect the team’s plans to travel to Europe for competitions in May. Hockey legend Bobby Hull will visit this year’s banquet to help raise funds for the trip, which pits Syracuse against competitors from Russia, Finland, Estonia and other European countries, Morocco said. He said this is the first time an American team has been invited to participate in the event, which he called a ‘mini-Olympics.’

Lore said the department will allow the team to hold spring recruitment meetings in December. If the team violates any policies during its spring probation, it will be suspended until the end of the spring 2006 semester, he said. But he expressed confidence that the team would stay clean.

‘I hope that they can make the best of this,’ Leifer said, ‘and come back stronger.’

Published on April 12, 2004 at 12:00 pm