NSCAA Writing Contest Winner

The following story, which appeared in the Nov. 6, 2000 issue of Soccer America, was honored by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America as the Best Non-Deadline Festure of 2000 in the Sixth annual NSCAA Writing Column. From SAÆs Youth Soccer Letter: RELIGIOUS HOLIDAY STIRS CONTROVERSY Two Connecticut clubs squabbled about playing a state cup game on the Jewish New Year Day. They eventually played — after some very public mudslinging. BY DAN WOOG Saturday, Sept. 30, was a gorgeous New England fall day, perfect for a Connecticut Junior Soccer Association state cup game. But it was also Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year, so the Avon Lightning and Fairfield United One did not play their U-11 boys match. Yet while some of the young players were observing one of the holiest days of the Jewish calendar, a number of adults were arguing such topics as religious tolerance, CJSA rules and civility. The bizarre drama, which included the chance that both teams would forfeit the same game, began when Avon and Fairfield won their first-round matches the previous Saturday, and realized their next match fell on Rosh Hashana. The holiday would begin at sundown Friday, and end at sundown Sunday. Six of Avon’s 16 players are Jewish. CJSA rules stipulate that cup games cannot be shifted to Sunday, only to a weekday preceding the Saturday date. The United States Youth Soccer Association, of which CJSA is a member, has no formal policy regarding religious holidays; all 55 state associations are free to formulate their own scheduling rules. Avon, a suburb of Hartford, lies an hour and a half from Fairfield if the traffic is good. Because of school obligations and a lack of lighted fields, a weekday match seemed impractical. A request to amend the rules to play Sunday, by mutual agreement, was denied by CJSA. Lightning coach Len Goldberg told the Hartford Courant that his Fairfield counterpart, Don Houston, was unwilling to find a compromise. “This is a holy day,” the upstate coach said. “He didn’t seem to want to work this out at all. …The sad thing is, the boys are the ones who suffer.” When it appeared the Lightning would have to forfeit, Goldberg said he told Houston, “I hope you have the integrity to tell your boys how they won the game.” Houston, a lawyer for the Fairfield school board, countered, “I don’t consider this a religious issue. I’m sorry the Avon team is making a religious issue out of this.” He said that rescheduling the game prior to Saturday would mean he would not have all his players. Two Fairfield boys, including his son, were injured. “I don’t see why I had to disadvantage my team to play his team,” Houston told the New York Times. He refused to call the disagreement a religious matter, terming it a “soccer scheduling issue only.” Goldberg responded that Houston was “hiding behind the rules,” and imposing his will on both teams’ players. “This is a case where someone wants to win a game at all costs, no matter what,” he said. ‘Everyone is to blame’ In the week before the scheduled match, Goldberg explained the situation to his players. Several reportedly cried, asking why the coaches could not work things out. Eventually, however, Avon’s 10 non-Jewish players decided unanimously not to play. “The team should stick together,” said 10-year-old Tyler Donahue. “If some of us can’t play, I don’t think we should. How would Fairfield feel if we had games on Christmas or Easter? How could anybody be that mean?” “Kids don’t want to win by forfeit,” the father of an Avon player said. “They want to play the game. Think about the larger issue here: following your religious beliefs vs. playing a soccer game.” According to Cathy Zolad, executive director of the 80,000-player CJSA, officials tried to mediate the dispute, but were unsuccessful. She added that they had no power to force a schedule change. “It’s up to the coaches,” she told the Courant. “We’ve done everything we can.” However, CJSA vice president Ted Rozsa, whose Southwest District includes Fairfield, said, “Everyone is to blame, including myself. We, as members of CJSA’s board of directors, should have anticipated this problem, and allowed them to play later. It wouldn’t have cost anyone anything — especially because everyone had the next weekend off for Columbus Day.” He added, “If it rained hard [on Saturday], everyone would have played next weekend.” Rozsa faulted the two coaches, too. “They should have been flexible and accommodating,ö he said, ôand worked things out between them. Other teams had a problem with the date, and they played earlier.” Rozsa denied there were any religious overtones to the controversy: “I think this had nothing to do with anti-Semitism, and everything to do with the way two people who don’t know each other dealt with the issue over the phone. They both dug their heels in. Don could have seen the problem coming and done his bit to resolve it, but he’s not anti-Semitic.” Rozsa said that the reason CJSA did not make an exception and allow the teams to play later was because “it hadn’t been done before. We just weren’t used to it. Obviously, a case like this is the reason to make exceptions. Now, realizing what can happen, I think the board is likely to revisit the policy.” Richard Nelson, another CJSA representative for the Southwest District, noted that Jewish holidays are only one of many obstacles cup officials face. “There’s tons of conflicts, not just religious holidays,” he said. “Boy Scout outings, school outings, all kinds of things.” Rozsa, the CJSA vice president, said that religious obligations are no different from other scheduling problems. “Everyone’s overbooked with all sorts of commitments,” he said. “It’s worse now than 10 years ago, because of the growth of kids playing premier soccer as well as on their local teams, the shortage of fields, and other competing programs. We’ve always asked people to be flexible, but in hindsight we were not flexible ourselves.” Throughout Connecticut many local youth programs, including recreational soccer leagues and YMCA events, were canceled on the Saturday of Rosh Hashana. A few operated as usual. Most high school football games were shifted to Thursday or Friday, and were scheduled to be completed before sundown. Politicians weighed in on the controversy. State Senate majority leader George C. Jepsen said, “I think the non-Jewish kids on the Avon team who chose not to play are showing a lot more character than the Fairfield coach.” Added Fairfield first selectman (mayor) John Metsopoulos, “Rosh Hashana has been a major holiday in the Jewish faith for 5,761 years. I don’t think it was too much to ask the state organization to check the calendar before they schedule these games.” Houston faulted the state association for the controversy. “On consideration, I blame the CJSA for pitting one team against another,” he told the Courant. “I feel I have been hung out to dry, and have been used by the CJSA as much as Mr. Goldberg has.” Also blaming CJSA was Avon parent Rich Rubin, who said the organization “will make an exception for an act of God, but not for worshipping God.” And then they played After a media firestorm developed, including television news coverage, CJSA relented somewhat. They agreed to waive their policy and allow the match to be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at a lighted field in neutral Ridgefield. Usually, cup games must be finished by 4 p.m. At a practice Friday afternoon — cut short so that families could attend religious services — the Avon team voted, again unanimously, not to play, because a number of players would still be celebrating the holiday. (Avon did, however, manage to play a league match in the Hartford area on Sunday afternoon.) Avon parents again asked the CJSA for permission to play Sunday or the following week, but officials said the Saturday scheduling rule was inflexible. Finally, the coaches reached an agreement. Just before the holiday began, they agreed to play the following week. Houston reversed his previous position, and said he would ignore CJSA rules to meet the Lightning during the next week. Further, he said, Fairfield would not accept a forfeit victory — and if CJSA did not sanction the rescheduled game, his team would forfeit. And if that happened, Houston continued, he would arrange a friendly match with Avon at another time. Goldberg agreed to those conditions. “The rules don’t allow for exceptions like that,” CJSA vice president Rozsa noted the day the game should have been played. “However, I’d be happy to vote for one. It’s probably what we should have done in the first place.” The vote was taken three days later. The next Saturday, Oct. 7, was another gorgeous New England fall day, just like Rosh Hashana the week before, again perfect for a Connecticut Junior Soccer Association state cup game. This time, thanks to a CJSA waiver, the Avon Lightning and Fairfield United One finally did play their U-11 boys match. The game was held at Fairfield University, a site that was kept secret until just before game time so that no press would appear. It was, Rozsa said, “well-fought, clean and wholesome, exactly what you want to see in the state cup between two good teams.” For the record, Avon won 1-0.