Ivy League denies Olympian eligibility

The Ivy League officially ruled Tuesday that freshman Joey Cheek, who medaled in speed skating in the past two winter Olympic games, is ineligible to play on the sprint football team based on his status as a professional athlete.

Cheek won a gold medal in the 500 meter and a silver medal in the 1,000 meter events at Turino in Feb ruary 2006. The two awards rounded out his medal collection, which he began gathering in 2002 with a bronze at Salt Lake City, Utah. Few people, however, knew that the man who is so swift on the ice wanted to try his hand on the gridiron.

"The more I heard about [sprint football, the more] it seemed like a really great way for me to play football," Cheek said. "I've always wanted to play football. Now, I can't say I'm a huge football fan, but I've always wanted to train and play the game."

Senior Associate Director of Athletics Erin McDermott said the Ivy League cited its policy prohibiting any athletes who have lost their amateur status from playing on any varsity or sub-varsity team at a member institution. The league's policy differs from the NCAA policy, which states that professional athletes only lose their amateur status in that sport, not all sports.

The league's ruling surprised Cheek, who expected the more difficult battle to come from the NCAA. His desire to play on the team was strong, however, and Cheek was prepared to sacrifice in order to play.

"I thought the problem would be with the NCAA," Cheek said. "I thought that because I was receiving compensation from a sponsor, that would be a problem. As we started going through the process, I actually contacted my sponsor, the one remaining promotions deal that I have from the Olympics, and we were preparing to, basically, cancel the contract so that I would be eligible."

While Cheek's willingness to give up his endorsement would have made a difference under NCAA amateurism regulations, it would not have cleared him with the Ivy League.

Citing the Ivy League Manual part IV letter B number 1c, the league based its decision on the fact that Cheek still retains an agent to manage speaking engagements for which Cheek is compensated.

The Ivy League Manual states, "A student competing in intercollegiate athletics shall be an amateur in good standing. A student ceases to be an amateur by committing any of the following acts: [...] Engaging for money or other substantial consideration in any occupation, business transaction or advertising promotion wherein that money or consideration is dependent on the student's usefulness as an athlete or the value of the student's name as an athlete, rather than from the ability to perform the usual and normal acts and duties incident thereto."

Cheek's teammates and coach shared his disappointment in this outcome. Sprint football head coach Thomas Cocuzza was initially surprised that Cheek wanted to play on the team, but after hearing about Cheek's desire to play football, he thought he had never heard a better reason to join the team.

Cheek, who spent most of his life working on the skills required to excel at speed skating, had some trouble at first with a basic football skill: catching. Cheek anticipated playing cornerback based on this inability, but with the hard work he was putting in, Cheek was turning into an adept wide receiver.

"Joey would not accept that he could not catch a football, and that's a determination our guys need to see," Cocuzza said. "They've never allowed anything to beat them before, and I don't understand why they will accept so readily that they will fail at this."

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This simple desire, combined with the tenacity and stubbornness required to earn gold medals, made Cheek a valuable part of the team, even if he had a lot to learn.

Senior quarterback Alex Kandabarow expressed his disappointment in the ruling as well.

"It isn't as if his professional career as a speed skater was merely a vehicle for him to get his way into Princeton to play sprint football," Kandabarow said. "There is hardly any skill-set crossover between speed skating and sprint football, and permitting him to play isn't going to compromise the level of competition in the sport. He really just wanted to try out football."

Cheek's football career only lasted about 10 days, and while he recognizes that the rule barring professional athletes from participation in any sport exists for a reason, it's unclear to him what that is.

"Those are the rules, and obviously I'm very disappointed," Cheek said. "I think I can contribute to the team, and I know that I would love to play. I personally think the things I can bring to sprint football far outweigh the fact that I used to be an athlete in another sport."