The Shoreline Community College women’s soccer team may be undefeated on the field but that won’t keep their official record from reflecting at least one loss this season.

Officials from the Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges, the league in which SCC plays, have ruled that a player who appeared in the Shoreline Community College game against Edmonds Community College on Sept. 24, was ineligible. Because of that, league officials have awarded the game to Edmonds. Shoreline won the game 1-0 and the ineligible player was not on the field at the time of the SCC goal. The player appeared only in the Sept. 24 game.

“I take full responsibility for the error, I should have gotten a second opinion from the conference office but I felt very comfortable with my evaluation of the situation at the time,” SCC Athletic Director Doug Palmer said Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008. The regular season ends Nov. 8. Playoffs run Nov. 12-23. “I determined that this young woman was eligible to play, but the league has ruled otherwise. If we were a member of the National Junior College Association, the player would have been eligible but the NWAACC does not share the exact same rules.”

Without divulging details that might infringe on the player’s privacy rights, Palmer said the crux of the problem involves differences in how the college and league view high school completion in such programs as the GED. Another concern is the timing of a player’s participation as it relates to the date of their high school graduating class. The player’s status was brought to the league’s attention by officials at another school. The situation had been under review by the league for several weeks.

Palmer said the player has continued to practice with the team and will be eligible to play starting next season and the NWAACC did not count her appearance in the Sept. 24 game against her eligibility and she has four years of competition left, two of which can be with Shoreline or another community college.