MSSA Tournament Rules Upheld in Circuit Court
2008 Tournament Issue Resolved

(Annapolis, MD) – On August 9, 2010 the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County upheld MSSA’s Tournament Committee ruling to disqualify the Professional Captain and his Application to fish as an amateur in the 2008 MSSA Amateur Spring Tournament. The Court found that the Captain was a professional captain at the time that he entered the amateur tournament and granted MSSA’s Motion for Summary Judgment which dismisses the Captain's claim for the prize money.

The Tournament Committee had the full support of MSSA’s Board of Directors since its decision to disqualify the Captain back in 2008. Even though the litigation proved to be very expensive for the MSSA, the Board of Directors believed strongly that the integrity of the 2008 MSSA Amateur Spring Tournament, and the future of all MSSA Tournaments, demanded that the MSSA defend the rights of all amateurs fishing in its Tournaments from unfair competition.

"This was an unfortunate situation for both sides, but we could not have a had a better resolution. The MSSA rules are fair and strong, and the integrity of our tournament was upheld", Dave Smith, Executive Director of the MSSA said.

The Captain may file a request with the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County requesting that the Court revise the ruling and/or appeal the Court’s decision within 30 days of the docketing of the August 9, 2010 ruling. Therefore, stay tuned and MSSA will continue to keep its members updated.