Ghost players on rosters?

I know LH requires a team to have 14 players on the roster to qualify. So what if a team only has 13 girls at every game? Is there anything that can be done if a team has added a random girl (usually a players friend ) to their roster to make 14. Even though the "ghost player" will never even attend a single practice or game.

The official term is "Casper" and I don't see how it could be checked. How do you know they only have 13 regulars based on one weekend of games (albeit very important games). A girl may have been on vacation.

This info is coming from a player on the team

There's medicine for this.

So basically it is a legal way to cheat.

Which team is doing this?

Definitely cheating the system.

14 players ensures teams will have at least 11 playing. The situation they are creating could mean they play a game with less if other players are out....

I don't want to say names but if you look at the got soccer rosters it's obvious. All I am going to say is #8

Or you can look in the 01 looking for players section

https://home.gotsoccer.com/rankings/team.aspx?TeamID=454174

This team fits the description.

Can anyone confirm 8 is a player or not?

It might not be ethical but are the actually breaking any rules? You have to have 14 on a roster - they do. I assume all 14 are signed up through North Texas Soccer since they are on the roster. No where in the rules does it say you have to have a minimum of 14 show up to a game to play.

KeeperSweeper wrote:It might not be ethical but are the actually breaking any rules?  You have to have 14 on a roster - they do. I assume all 14 are signed up through North Texas Soccer since they are on the roster. No where in the rules does it say you have to have a minimum of 14 show up to a game to play.

If the player is never going to play, then the team is cheating the system.

Does Lake Highlands really need to add extra verbiage that the roster must include players?

Come on KeeperSweeper....be real.

Should they be reported to LH? So that they can investigate

I bet Brett Shipp could get to the bottom of this...

Why report them? Who are they hurting by playing 1 player short? Cheating the system yes, but what good comes from the 14, 15, 16 spots that are there and don't play anyway?

Anarchy wrote:Why report them? Who are they hurting by playing 1 player short? Cheating the system yes, but what good comes from the 14, 15, 16 spots that are there and don't play anyway?

Say for instance 4 girls have to miss a game due to a injury, family or school function, then the team shows up and only fields 9 players.

This is not what why are paying for:  11 vs 9 players.

Thus the rule.

They should be disqualified for cheating.

Anarchy wrote:Why report them? Who are they hurting by playing 1 player short? Cheating the system yes, but what good comes from the 14, 15, 16 spots that are there and don't play anyway?

Board of directors

U14 Division I
Jim Henderson
Phone: 214-505-8870
Email: jim.mail1@yahoo.com

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U14 Division III
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Phone: 214-908-3663
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This 'ghost player' abuse is mostly seen with teams that have changed clubs and are desperately trying to maintain 75% of last season's roster or lose their LHGCL bye. Using a 'ghost player' to simply make 14 seems odd to me.

You have to have 14 to qualify

I'm not sure why anyone not on the team cares. I wouldn't want to play on a small roster. How does a team win with 2 subs in 100 degree heat? Personally I don't see how you make it through a LHGCL season with these girls starting high school soccer too. Looks to me to be a long year if they qualify.

If the player is properly rostered through NTSSA then it's a team decision to play on.

"Teams must have a minimum of 14 players on their official roster"

Did they have 14 on their roster?  Yes

Did they meet the letter of the rule?  Yes

Did they meet the spirit of the rule?  Not if they have no intent of #14 playing a game, but that's just my opinion.

Disclaimer: My DD plays for a team with a D1 bye and many more than 14 on the roster. I have no knowledge of this situation beyond what I have read in this thread.

Back to the topic at hand: Perhaps there could be an issue if this team accumulates injuries and can't field 11 or can't be competitive. How is this (still alleged) situation different from having a 14th player who is really lousy and sits on the bench for the entire game?

BTW, I witnessed an LHGCL '01 team last season that showed for games with 11-12 players at times, and they were fairly successful. Also, if there are players still looking, I suspect that this team will be able to sign more if they gain entry to LHGCL.

Let's examine a different scenario: Suppose the team in question won their way into LHGCL through the QT. We'll call this Result 1. Suppose that LHGCL then disqualified them and replaced them with a team that did not win their way through the QT (Result 2). Which of these results is better for the competitive balance of the league?

Is this thread sour grapes because the team in question is winning in QT? It has that outward appearance. Would this team's opponents be more likely to win if the team in question had MORE players? That doesn't stand to reason. I say teams with superior numbers that are offended by this team should go beat them on the field.

The bottom line is that none of this gets resolved by coming on here and complaining about it and/or trying to publicly shame the alleged guilty party.

The only chance you have of getting the resolution that you feel you deserve, is to take your complaint and your supporting evidence to the LHGCL age group commissioner.

Otherwise, you aren't really accomplishing anything beyond convincing several people that you have a bad case of sour grapes...

In my humble opinion, any team that has a defender with 27 goals, three forwards with 186 goals combined, and advances through two weekends of QT in 100 degree weather is good enough to compete in LH D2 even if they only have 13 able bodies on the roster! They are no different than any team with 14 players with 1 injured player.

http://www.ntxsoccer.org/assets/pdfs/2014-2015_NTSSA_Bylaws_and_Rules_2-10-15.pdf

The rules don't specifically talk about a player registering with the intent of never playing. I think it's understood that teams wouldn't stoop so low to cheat.

Still, if someone on team admitted it and comes clean, it's fraud and action should be taken.

Either LH mandates the team add a legit 14th player or be disqualified.

14 players are required to play in LH.

jae wrote:In my humble opinion, any team that has a defender with 27 goals, three forwards with 186 goals combined, and advances through two weekends of QT in 100 degree weather is good enough to compete in LH D2 even if they only have 13 able bodies on the roster!  They are no different than any team with 14 players with 1 injured player.

186 goals in a weekend? Call Jill Ellis