| Comments: | Prior to addressing the main allegations, the PAD Committee makes the following statements:
1. This decision is for Incidents 3870 and 3873.
2. Clubs may only file PAD Reports on their own behalf. If any club other than RYSC wishes to file an Incident Report on their own behalf, they must submit their own Incident Report.
3. The PAD Committee does not address any allegations concerning violations of state or county mandates, but advises all clubs to comply with the statements made by US Soccer and USClub Soccer.
In this situation Placer United admits that, outside of the Tryout Window, they held training sessions to which they invited Players Registered with other Clubs without obtaining written permission from those Clubs' Directors of Coaching.
This is a violation of the NorCal Code of Ethics rule regarding Recruiting which states that "Recruiting" refers to making any contact or communication with a a player who is registered with another NorCal club, in which the player is asked or allowed to join a club, attend a tryout or club training session, or play or guest play for another club, without first receiving permission from the Director of Coaching of the player's club." These training sessions violated Rules 1 and 2 of the Responsibilities Regarding Scouting and Recruiting in the Code of Ethics.
Mr. Blakeman was recused as the PAD Committee discussed recommending to the Board sanctions to be imposed upon Placer United.
The PAD Committee recommends that the Board of Directors apply sanctions to Placer United, its teams and its Director of Coaching that comport to recently rendered Board of Director imposed sanctions in similar situations.
The decision was appealed to the Appeals Committee of the NorCal Board which upheld the decision of the PAD Committee. The decision was further appealed to the full Board of NorCal which ruled as follows:
After reviewing PUSC’s appeal of the NorCal Premier Appeals Committee decision of July 16, 2020, related to the NorCal PAD Committee decision of Incidents #3870 & 3873, the NorCal Board of Directors has reached a decision. The Board has upheld the previous findings by the NorCal PAD Committee, and the NorCal Appeals Committee. As such, PUSC’s appeal has been denied, due to evidence that PUSC invited and/or allowed players registered with other NorCal clubs to train without DOC permission outside of the R6 in-person tryout window.
Based on this incident, the Board has decided to apply the following sanctions to PUSC:
PUSC to be placed on probation status with immediate effect, until the end of the 2020/21 season.
PUSC Director of Coaching, Paul O’Brien, will serve a suspension from coaching in NorCal competitions for a period of 4 competition weekends. This suspension will start from the 1st published game date of the 2020/21 NorCal Premier Soccer season, and will preclude Mr O’Brien from coaching any PUSC team in a NorCal competition. This includes Mr O’Brien being present in the Technical Area at any game in a NorCal competition. |
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