U of S coach was aware recruit faced sex charges
The longtime head coach of the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men’s volleyball program knew a recruit was facing a sexual assault charge in Alberta prior to joining the Huskies for the 2017-18 season.
Matthew Alan Meyer, who is from Prince Albert, pleaded guilty to sexual assault on Monday in Medicine Hat in connection with an incident in January 2016. When Meyer played for the Huskies in the 2017-18 season under head coach Brian Gavlas, the charge had not yet been proven in court.
Meyer was sentenced to two years in prison followed by three years probation. As part of his sentence, he was ordered to take courses about sexual assault prevention.
Meyer pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a passed-out Medicine Hat College student at a house party on Jan. 17, 2016, the Medicine Hat News reported. He also admitted photographing her during the assault, pleading guilty to voyeurism. At the time, Meyer was a member of the college’s Rattlers volleyball team.
Gavlas declined to comment on Meyer’s guilty plea.
“I was aware of the charge, yes. I wasn’t aware of what was happening,” he said Tuesday.
“We had talked briefly about the situation. We didn’t go into a lot of detail.”
When he and Meyer “discussed the possibility of being a part of our team and our program, we discussed certain aspects and certain expectations, and what might be best for him individually and what might be good for our team in regards to having him involved,” Gavlas said.
“It became a choice and decision that for his time during this past year it would be best for him to be supported and part of a passion and a sport that he enjoyed and a group of guys that could support him ... Nowhere along the lines did we take anything that had happened in the past into account with his involvement with our team.”
Asked if he was worried about having someone accused of sexual assault join the program, Gavlas said he “would be concerned about the perception that would be out there, for sure.
“My major concern was for him individually as a young adult and what this mistake in his life is causing him or costing him, and what we could do to make sure that the path forward is the best possible path forward.
“From my perspective as a coach and as a father, I thought being involved with our team and our program would be best at this particular stage in his life.”
In a prepared statement, Huskie Athletics chief athletic officer Shawn Burt said the school will launch an internal investigation into “how this individual was able to compete as a Huskie athlete.”
Meyer has been removed from the roster — his bio was no longer found on the Huskie Athletics website — and the circumstances will be reviewed under Huskie Athletics’ code of conduct, Burt said. “We take the matter extremely seriously, as the type of conduct associated ... is not reflective of our values as an athletic program or university,” Burt said.