Tough news on Thursday for U Sports football players waiting to hear what would become of their final year of eligibility after this season was axed.
U Sports has said 24-year-old players missing their final year because of COVID-19 will not be eligible to play as a 25-year-old.
According to TSN’s Farhan Lalji, the Football Technical Committee voted unanimously to extend the age cap for one season, however representatives from all schools, including the ones without football programs voted against it.
I spoke to @UACoachMorris who sits on @USPORTSca Football Technical Subcommittee which guides most football decisions. They voted UNANIMOUSLY to extend the age cap for one season.
Nonetheless representatives from all schools (many of which do not offer football) voted against it— Farhan Lalji (@FarhanLaljiTSN) July 9, 2020
U of R Rams fifth year linebacker Robbie Lowes was on the Sportscage Thursday, where he said as tough as the news is to hear now, he hopes an appeal will be announced at some point in time.
“I don’t think this is the end of it that’s for sure, if you go on social media there hasn’t been one person saying this was the right decision, the consensus is that they made the wrong decision and I believe there is going to be some type of appeal,” Lowes said.
Lowes added no matter what type of appeal is filed, whether it be a compassionate one by the players, or one by schools themselves, this is not the end of what was a tough decision to hear.
“There’s a little bit of anger being felt as well, because U Sports sent us this email and they haven’t given any reason or explanation into why this decision was made, it’s frustrating.”
“These guys are the heart and soul of their teams, we work years and thousands of hours for this and this is what we get, it’s just not fair,” Lowes added.
A petition to change the decision is already making rounds online.
