Dismissed Louisville Soccer Player Releases Statement
On Thursday, three University of Louisville men's soccer players were dismissed from the program following their role in an off-campus party that led to positive COVID-19 cases within the athletics program, and now one of them has come forward.
Midfielder Cameron Wheeler, a Louisville native who was in his redshirt junior year with the program, released a statement regarding his involvement with the events last weekend. The other two players have not yet come forward.
"I love U of L and the program. I'm from Louisville and it was special to play in front of the crowds and my family and friends," Wheeler said in his statement. "My goal is to earn a business degree, winning more team trophies along the way. I have now been dismissed from the team and lost my scholarship."
In the original press release, the University stated that the three student-athletes who had been dismissed from the team "each had prior team violations", which had been instrumental in receiving a dismissal and not a suspension. Wheeler admits past transgressions, but believes they were not negligent to the health and wellbeing of his teammates.
"I've made mistakes and own them, but had no history of risking anyone's health or safety," Wheeler said in his statement. He refers to "a bad grade in one class" and walking around campus with teammates during an away trip as the team violations that led to his eventual dismissal.
Wheeler and two others were the individuals designated by the University as "primarily responsible for organizing a party" this past Saturday night. Wheeler feels that this did not properly convey what happened and presented his side of the story.
"We didn't plan a "party" or large gathering last Saturday. We didn't invite a crowd to come to our house. One other student-athlete who had also just tested negative for COVID was invited to come over and hang out with us. This violated no rule," Wheeler said.
"Several uninvited student-athletes followed him in. They said they were COVID free. But, things escalated quickly. Athletes from multiple teams continued to come in, not invited. I didn't know many of them. This made it more difficult to try to get the situation under control. We tried shutting it down and getting people to leave but it took over an hour.
During routine University testing the following Monday, eight student-athletes tested positive for COVID-19. That number increasing to 29 across four sports following contact tracing. Louisville then suspended all team-related activities for two weeks in men's and women's soccer, field hockey and volleyball on Wednesday.
"As required, I reported to my trainer that I believed I may have been in contact with other student-athletes I didn't know to be COVID free," Wheeler continued in his statement. " I reported what happened to the athletic department. We were unable to convince anyone that we hadn't intended for this to happen."
Athletic Director Vince Tyra said that he fully supported head coach John Michael Hayden's decision to dismiss Wheeler and the two others, saying that they "did not meet the code of conduct of the university or their team."
"Ignoring the safety protocols issued by federal, state and local officials, as well as the athletic department, is unacceptable and dangerous," Tyra said in a statement Thursday. "Their history of actions are not in alignment with the values of this university and athletics department."
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