After qualifying for a regional final, the division 3 cadet level 9-a-side football team of the Marist College Carcajous of Quebec decided to skip the match, fearing for the physical safety of its players.
Last weekend, in the semi-final, the cadet level team won 35-6 against Collège François-de-Laval to earn its ticket to the regional final, which was to take place this Saturday.
In the other semi-final, the Vikings from l’Aubier high school in Lévis easily defeated Pointe-Lévy 50-0, like the rest of their season.
The Aubier cadet level 9 team has destroyed everything in its path this season, not allowing a single point in six games, against 247 points scored.
On September 20, Aubier beat Mariste College by a score of 43-0 in the regular season.
Rather than playing against the same team in the regional final, Marist College withdrew following an internal survey.
“We must consider the first experience we had against Aubier. From the second quarter, we were playing in continuous time and we started to fear for the safety of our players. Our physiotherapist was very active,” noted the general director of the Marist College, François Sylvain.
A decision by the players
By finding themselves in the semi-final, the Marist College Carcajous knew that if they won, they would have to face the Aubier Vikings again. This prospect clearly did not enchant them.
“Our coaches started to hear discussions from young people who no longer even wanted to win the semi-final. They understood that the desire to play against Aubier was not there at the dawn of a basketball season in which several of our players also participate,” explained Mr. Sylvain.
In an anonymous survey conducted among second and third secondary players, a majority decided not to play the final and the Marist College then withdrew, paying a fine of $1,200 to the RSEQ. .
“It’s really a shame, but the safety and well-being of our student athletes are worth more than $1,200,” said François Sylvain.
“This is a decision that really goes against the nature of our head coach [l’ancien du Rouge et Or Jonathan Breton-Robert]who has always been a proud competitor and whose philosophy is to learn in defeat. The fact remains that our primary mission is to protect our young people.”
Last season, at the 12-a-side cadet level, Marist College also withdrew before a regular season match which was to pit them against the Patriotes from Roger-Comtois secondary school, for fear of suffering “a real massacre”, according to by François Sylvain.
However, he assures that this situation arises for the first time in playoff matches.
Never seen before
Marist College has made the decision to withdraw its cadet level 9-a-side football team from the regional final, which was to pit them against Aubier secondary school.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE MARIST COLLEGE, JEAN-SÉBASTIEN BÉGIN
On the Aubier side, the program manager and head coach, Christian Pelletier, was sorry about the situation, but quickly moved on. For transparency purposes, the latter did not initiate contact with The Journal.
“We don’t want to make waves with this and for us it’s in the past, but it’s a shame for the young people that the match won’t take place. I have never experienced such a situation in 25 years in football,” he said.
He acknowledges that the season may have seemed unfair to other programs. However, in 9-a-side youth football, division 3 is the strongest since there is neither division 1 nor division 2.
“I would have liked to go to the 12-player cadet team, but we often play with 27 or 28 players. It’s impossible to play in another division. There are some who will say that we are too strong or too big, but we play in the league where we are supposed to play. Where else can we play?” he pleaded.
First match without conflict
At the end of the September 20 match easily won by Aubier against Marist College, Christian Pelletier assures that he felt no bitterness on the other side.
“They didn’t blame us for anything. We shook hands, congratulated each other and that was it. In the first half, they even found themselves at our line of 5 twice, without scoring. Three injuries were noted on the other side, which is nothing unusual. After the match, we heard of a complaint that did not come from the team, but from a parent, to the effect that we were too strong.
“Our players have always been very respectful. Everyone here finds it strange, but in all of this, I am proud of the reaction of our young people, who immediately focused on the next match,” explained Christian Pelletier.
The Vikings will therefore move directly to the provincial final next week against the winner between Mont-Joli and Rimouski, in Eastern Quebec.
