El Cajon Valley Forfeits Soccer Victory; Coach to Resign

SAN DIEGO —  In the aftermath of having to forfeit a high school soccer playoff match, El Cajon Valley’s Jeff Duhaney said Friday he would resign as the Braves’ coach.

Duhaney cited lack of support on the part of El Cajon’s administration, stemming from the way El Cajon’s 3-1 upset playoff victory Wednesday over top-seeded Sweetwater was reversed.

El Cajon administrators discovered Thursday the use of two ineligible players in that San Diego Section Division II match. El Cajon promptly forfeited the match and two previous victories.

According to Duhaney and Athletic Director Jim Wolf, two players had received unsatisfactory citizenship marks during the last grading period, which ended two weeks ago. Wolf said Duhaney should have received those reports. Duhaney, an off-campus coach, said he never did. Duhaney also said the players in question never told him of their marks.

Under Grossmont Conference rules, those players have been ineligible since the grading period ended. No section rules were broken.

Duhaney added that he would take full responsibility for the mix-up, but he was upset in the way it was handled.

Duhaney said Jim Finch, El Cajon’s vice principal in charge of athletics, made an inquiry into the player’s eligibility on Thursday morning. Duhaney said he felt Finch knew all along but waited until after the playoff victory. Finch, working the El Cajon girls’ basketball game Friday night, could not be reached for comment.

“Why check (the player’s eligibility) after a big playoff win?,” Duhaney asked. “Why wait on the issue. It was like a witch hunt to me. I’m going to hand in my resignation.

“I take full responsibility. But it shouldn’t have happened. And it wouldn’t have happened if I got some help from the administration. I’ve done a lot for that school, and it was never supported. I brought respectability to that program without (the administration’s) support.”

Said Wolf, “There’s an old saying . . . When accused, counter-accuse.”

Wolf added, “It’s a problem I feel that exists with the philosophy in our district of having, quote, walk-on coaches. But (Duhaney’s) not a first-time walk-on coach. He knows the procedures. Rules and regulations are rules and regulations.”

Duhaney said he took the El Cajon coaching job three years when his son, Mike, was a freshman. El Cajon was 13-5-3 before downing Sweetwater on Wednesday. As a result of the forfeits, El Cajon finished 10-8-3.