Ice Hockey Club Team Disqualified from Post-Season Play

The American Collegiate Hockey Association, the governing body of non-varsity college hockey teams, has suspended the Arkansas Razorback men's ice hockey club team from further postseason play for the remainder of the 2011-12 season. The action was finalized on Thursday based on the discovery that a member of the club team had falsified his academic transcript, giving the club and league the false impression that he was eligible to compete. The student admitted the violation when confronted.

Ice hockey is a club sport organized within the university's department of university recreation and is not affiliated with the university's intercollegiate athletics program or the NCAA. Club sports are generally self-managed by student leaders and do not have the same level of scrutiny and oversight that intercollegiate athletics programs require.

The hockey club won the Southeastern Collegiate Hockey Conference West Championship title Saturday for the third consecutive year. It was scheduled to continue competition for the conference championship before Thursday's decision.

"We are disappointed for the players on the team and for its supporters," said John N. Diamond, associate vice chancellor for university relations. "While it may be a club-level sport, members of the team work very hard and have performed extremely well. Unfortunately one person's poor decision, unbeknownst to his teammates and coaches, undermined what had been another promising season."