CHESHIRE -- The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference is apologizing to parents and players for a major clerical error that led to cancelled and postponed girls soccer tournament games.
"We rallied the staff here and confirmed that the error was in fact, made," said Dr. Karissa Niehoff, executive director of the CIAC. "A huge apology to for all the hassle that families felt, that the kids experienced; they got out of school early to play this game they missed academic time."
The problem involved tournament scheduling and bracketing for girls L and LL division soccer. Teams were mismatched and were slated to play incorrect opponents.
Some teams didn't find out about the change until they literally arrived at the competition venue.
"At the time you're frustrated and your parents are a little frustrated, but they were great, the kids and coaches are a little frustrated but you make the best of it," said Lindsay Boutiliar, athletic director for Manchester High School, who was also empathetic to the circumstances. "It was an honest mistake and the mistake was corrected and there's not much you can do about it."
The CIAC says its working with schools to reimburse any fees and costs associated with the mix up.
As for the games themselves, undefeated Suffield Wildcats hosted a round one matchup against the Simsbury Trojans Wednesday. The number 2 seeded Wildcats got to work early and proved why they came into the game with a 16-0 record. Scoring their goal less than 5 minutes into the game, the pace never slowed down. Suffield would finish with a 6-0 victory moving on to the second round where they will face the Mustangs of Fairfield Warde.
