DOLLARD-DES-ORMEAUX – A kids football team said it has been unfairly targeted after it had to forfeit four games due to a post-game weight check.
The atom-level Sunnybrooke Chiefs were enjoying a 4-1 season, winning its last game against the Châteauguay Raiders 42-0.
Afterwards, coaches said their season unravelled due to what they claim was an unfair complaint by their opponent.
“They asked us to look over the registration papers,” said coach Bryan Spence.
“There was a clerical error made by the registrars.”
That error listed the weight of nine-year-old running back Shekai Mills Knight at 111 lbs. – just one pound over the threshold to be eligible to carry the ball or play defence.
According to his mother, Mills Knight’s real weight is 101 lb. and it had been recorded incorrectly at the weigh in.
“All of a sudden, they want to look at our contracts,” said Earl Foronda, Sunnybrooke Park director.
“We play five games and there’s no problem.”
What does regulations, weight or eligibility mean to a nine-year-old child?
“Well, there’s no point in playing when I lost my position…so, I don’t know,” Mills Knight told Global News.
It’s an especially heavy blow to the team, because he also plays middle linebacker.
“I didn’t want him to play. But he asked me ‘give me a chance,'” said Nesta Mills, the boy’s mother.
“I didn’t want to give him a chance, but it turns out he loves it.”
Châteauguay coaching staff refused an interview with Global News.
They’re contention is that the league enforces the rules, not the teams, and the weight rules exist for safety reasons.
According to Jean-Charles Meffe, Executive Director of Football Quebec, teams are responsible for making sure clerical errors don’t exist on their rosters.
An appeal has been lodged with the federation that governs the leagues.
A decision is expected later this week.
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