EVANSDALE - A decision to disqualify a tournament-winning children's ball team in Evansdale has parents and coaches teed off.

The Evansdale Youth Sports Association wrapped up a season of T-ball with a tournament over the weekend.

Instead of taking home trophies, the winning team, the Walleyes, was declared ineligible. The team's coaches were banned from participating in EYSA organizations after board members discovered the team used two nonroster players.

"If you have to cheat to win down there, we don't want you there," board member Diane Peters said. "They broke the code of ethics. They did not follow the rules."

Walleye parents and coaches call the move heartless.

Walleyes Coach Brian Thompson said he hasn't told the team about the board's decision.

"I can't tell these kids that - they won," he said. "They're 5 to 7 years old. That would be like taking their stuffed animals away from them."

The Walleyes swept six straight games entering the tournament from the loser's bracket after dropping their first game.

Team coaches say they added the two players to have enough players to participate in the tournament. One of those two, Shaden DeGroote, had played with the Walleyes since July 5 but never officially registered with the team.

"All kids have to be on the roster first, for legal reasons," Peters said, adding that having non-registered players leaves the EYSA open to liabilities.

The other player was on a different roster from an EYSA T-ball team but had missed his team's tournament and wanted to play.

Thompson said he brought the two on board because the team had only five players entering the tournament. Even with two additions, the team played the tournament with just one outfielder.

"We never expected to see them to win even second place," said Shaden DeGroote's father, Curtis DeGroote.

League rules should have prevented the Walleyes from playing in the tournament at all since they call for at least eight players on each team.

Two board members, including Peters' daughter, Danielle Peters, are also team coaches. Peters' team finished fourth in the tournament, and moved up to third after the Walleyes were disqualified.

DeGroote said the decision to revoke the victory was in retaliation for winning.

"They let them play all weekend long with seven players," he said. "I absolutely believe that if (the Walleyes) had lost, (the board) would have never said a word."

Members said they had no motivation outside of enforcing the rules.

"Do we let them break the rules constantly?" Peters asked. "They cheated. They literally cheated."

Thompson said the players were being unfairly punished.

"I think they should punish me, not the kids," he said. "Don't punish these kids by not giving them their trophies after they played six games straight in 90-degree heat," said DeGroote.

Board Vice President Natalie Finger said the board didn't strip the team of its trophies.

"We're not taking the championship away from the kids," she said. "It's the coaches who did that by deciding to break the rules."

Other coaches are split on whether the Walleye players deserve their trophies.

Cedar Valley Vikings Coach Dave Wyant didn't dispute the outcome of the tournament, had the coaches registered the players.

"Everyone likes to win, but it probably wouldn't have been a big deal if they'd gone through the process of having the kids register."

The two additions made a difference, he added.

"They were the two best on the team, if not the league," he said. "To that degree it's not really fair when you have randomly selected teams."

Brian Olsson, Troupe's Auto coach, said the board made a poor decision.

"Nothing states in the rules you can't add kids," he said, adding that having teams coached by board members and using board members to umpire creates a conflict of interest.

Olsson said the board should have spoken with the other league coaches before making a decision.

Finger said the issue has gotten out of hand.

"It's the way society is," she said. "Everyone is out for the win. You have to remember people, these are 5, 6, 7-year-old kids playing."

Contact John Molseed at 291-1418 or John.Molseed@wcfcourier.com