By now we've all heard about the Atlanta Harlequins' forfeit of their Women's Premier League Semi-Final upset over the Glendale Raptors. There's a bit of an uproar over this issue in the rugby community, but not over the right part of this issue.
When your club agrees to play in a competition (either gender, either code), it is agreeing to abide by the rules of that competition or suffer the consequences for breaking those rules. IF that same club chooses to play a match with a player not registered properly by the rules knowing that the match may be forfeited because of that choice, NO ONE in that club or affiliated with that club possesses a credible complaint about the decision by the league's governing body to declare the match forfeited (to the 'Quins credit, Ms. Jervey issued a statement taking full responsibility).
This is nothing new. We've seen this issue come up in past championship competitions at every level in the USA.
Division 1 and Premier clubs should always ensure that all of the correct paperwork is completed on their players and on their club and turned in on time. This is a benchmark of that status and a stepping stone to professionalism. A club's off the pitch activities will reflect in its on the pitch actions in this manner. Division 1 and Premier rugby clubs and teams of each gender and code are charged with acting professionally at every turn.
It is a shame that the Atlanta Harlequins made the decision to play an ineligible player, because they played the game of their lives yesterday. The 'Quins are a solid organization as evidenced by how well they hosted the WPL Championship weekend and by how well they played the game. We hope that they will bounce back from this and not allow it to happen again.
We also hope that there is a club out there vying for a chance in the spotlight that will apply the lesson learned form this incident without having to repeat it.