Medicine Hat College expected to stiffen student-athlete vetting process

This was due to facing charges out of St. Catherines, Ontario stemming from an arrest in August of 2018.

According to court documents sent to CHAT TV by Edobar’s family on June 4, 2021, all charges against him were withdrawn in November of 2019. A letter from Edobar’s lawyer further indicates that the charges were withdrawn at the Preliminary Hearing as the Crown did not believe there was a reasonable chance of conviction. David Protomanni says Edobar was “in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

At the time this story was written, the Medicine Hat College indicated it did not have a process in place for criminal record checks. Associate vice-president Irlanda Price said “There are some programs that require that as part of their admission process into the school. But, as an open access institution, that’s not a requirement to become a student or a student-athlete.”

After sitting out the first half of the basketball season and not being allowed to practice with the Rattlers, Edobar was re-instated to the team in January at the beginning of the second semester.

Something that Price said the both the college and the Rattlers felt comfortable doing.

“We really, strongly believe that everyone has a right to a second chance,” said Price. “So, he was a student throughout the first semester, we had no incidents with him at all. He did everything appropriately as far as being a student.”

Edobar’s time with the Rattlers was short-lived however, as he was booted off the men’s basketball team on January 21 along with Jusci Thompson for what the school has called a violation of their student-athlete code of conduct.

Now, the college has become aware that Edobar volunteered with the Medicine Hat High School Mohawks basketball program on his own time during his first semester, something Price said they didn’t know about previously.

“He volunteered on his own accord,” said Price. “As a Rattler as of January, we would have gone through a different process to put him into the community.

MHPSD Superintendent Mark Davidson said it’s their policy to allow teachers and staff to reach out to community members who can drop in and provide instruction in the classroom or in the gym.

“If someone is volunteering or they’re present in the building in an ad hoc sort of basis, an irregular basis, they’re to do so under direct supervision of a teacher,” said Davidson. “That’s exactly what was done in this circumstance.”

According to Davidson, members of the Mohawks coaching staff and players had no issues while Edobar volunteered for the team in 2018.

Edobar also received a letter of recommendation from the high school coaches to join the Rattlers in the second semester, who knew the player wasn’t on the roster but didn’t know why.

Davidson said they didn’t think anything was out of the usual when Edobar offered to volunteer with his teammates, as he stated it’s fairly common Rattlers players help out the local high schools.

“Our staff became aware that there might have been some historical challenges with this young man when the media brought it to our attention,” said Davidson. “Our experiences with him in our school, was that the staff that worked with him found him to be respectful, positive, and conducted himself in an honourable way in their presence.”

Davidson added he didn’t see any problems with the way his staff followed the division’s current policy, but said it’s not out of the question to see potential changes down the road to prevent similar circumstances.

“I think our staff implemented the policy, just as it’s written,” said Davidson. “I’m comfortable with the fact that they did their due diligence by being present and that they cared for our kids. And, that we are always willing to take a look at our policies and make sure that they actually fit our goals as a system.”

Change from Medicine Hat College is more likely to happen, as Price said they are reviewing their vetting process for bringing new Rattlers into the fold.

She added this could include mandatory criminal record checks for anyone interested in becoming a Rattler, who are expected to volunteer in the community as part of their student-athlete profile.

“There are some things that we need to be doing differently,” said Price. “So, moving forward we will be vetting and likely, we may be the first in the ACAC to actually do this, is likely requiring all of our athletes to have a criminal record check before wearing a Rattlers jersey, period.”

Such a move would be a major change for collegiate athletics in Alberta, as ACAC CEO Mark Kosak said he’s not aware of any of the other 16 schools currently using a similar policy.

“Not 100 percent certain, but I don’t believe so,” said Kosak. “This is new information for me and I don’t know anyone that has run into this circumstance.”

According to Price, changes will likely be made before the end of the 2018-19 school year and they will be going to groups like the Medicine Hat Public School Division for consultation to make sure a repeat doesn’t happen in the future.

“We’re going to have those done before April 1,” said Price. “With the opportunity for our community partners, such as School District 76, to give us some feedback on it, because we don’t want to have anyone put in a predicament of concern or distrust.”

by Scott Roblin

Medicine Hat College expected to stiffen student-athlete vetting process

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