- Mar 16, 2010
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ASCheerMan -
That being said - and not putting you on the spot but asking for my general knowledge (feel free to PM me if you prefer) , is there a plan in place or being discussed by USASF/Varsity that will deal with repeat offenders? If the same program(s) are coming up year after year accused of something against the rules is there something that can be done? Also IMO there is a major difference in being found not guilty vs innocent and it seems at times we give the not guilty declaration but there is definitely something amiss that is not exactly innocent either. Are there plans to fully disclose those as well.
To clarify, the Disciplinary Committee is a by-product of the USASF, NOT Varsity. I don't sit on either committee, so I'm not certain whether or not a discussion about repeat offenders has taken place. I will say that the process for litigation by these two commitees underwent a major overahaul after the 2010-2011 season, so its unlikely that any person will be viewed at as a 'repeat offender' until they've been categorized a 'repeat offender' under the current process. As far as the USASF is concerned, we are starting from scratch in this area. Does that make sense?
To SarahS, while I'm not positive about my response, I'm fairly certain an official timeline of release hasn't been put together. All I know is that the USASF is doing a better job at crossing their T's and dotting their I's, and doing so responsibly takes time. As I stated, we are starting from scratch. Some of the issues occurring right now are unprecedented, so it makes more sense to devise a communication plan on a case by case basis for now, rather than arbitrarily decidinig that the best timeline has the public announcement being released 5 business days after the decision is made. As important as it may be for you to have first hand knowledge of the details regarding a case, it's more important that it be communicated at a pace that makes sense for those involved.
Also note, very few cases ever make it all the way to these USASF Committees. Putting on my NCA hat: For every 50 complaints of illegal participation I hear about a year, probably only 1 one of those get submitted to me for official investigation. And probably only 1 out of every 10 of those actually result in a gym being found guilty.
And if, as an Event Producer, I deal with the situation at hand, chances are it won't get submitted to the USASF Disciplinary Committee. There are many, many more false and unofficial accusations of cheating then there are actual cases of official investigation. I wouldn't be surprised if the 2011-2012 list of USASF Ruling Notifications is blank because they simply didn't have any formally submitted for review.