It is ironic that the greatest proposed change to sa国际传媒 high school sports comes in a year when there are no high school sports.
It is being positioned as a battle between sports officials and bureaucratic administrators. Voting will be conducted online today to either continue or disband the model that has operated high school sports in the province for many 颅decades.
The system is currently run by 15 volunteer high school sports commissions under the umbrella of sa国际传媒 School Sports. The new proposed model would do away with the commissions鈥� powers and they would serve only in advisory capacities. If the proposal passes, the BCCS would establish a 55-person board to run high school sports. The BCCS said it would be made up of three representatives each from the nine school zones, one being a principal or vice-principal, and rest from various interest groups such as the sa国际传媒 Teachers Federation, school district employees and representatives from 颅the provincial education and tourism, arts and颅 颅culture ministries.
(In a breaking development, The Province reported Friday that the BCTF said it has not been consulted.)
鈥淪ome commissions see this as a hostile takeover with their autonomy and control being taken away, but it鈥檚 not necessarily that,鈥� said Darren Reisig, Lower Vancouver Island School Sports president, and athletic director of Claremont Secondary.
鈥淚 can see both sides. I鈥檝e been to 20 AGMs under the current system and turnout is 30 to 35 per cent. Some change is needed to get a better functioning body.鈥�
Reisig did not say which way he is leaning to vote. Each of sa国际传媒鈥檚 468 secondary schools gets a vote. Most are leaving it up their athletic directors but some principals or vice-principals may make the decision on behalf of their schools. A 67-percent threshold is needed to pass.
Proponents of the change tout the uniformity that one board, with various voices represented, will provide across all high school sports. Those against the proposal point to the expertise of the commissions and that they know their own sports best.
The sports commissions organize the sa国际传媒 high school championships, some of which are big and complex annual affairs to stage, such as the basketball championships at the Langley Events Centre, football championships at sa国际传媒 Place and rugby championships at Rotary 颅Stadium in Abbotsford. Future NBA, CFL and World Cup players have played in those championships. The sa国际传媒 high school basketball tournament celebrated its 75th anniversary in 2019. Another big one is the sa国际传媒 high school track and field championships, out of which have come numerous Olympians.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 imagine anyone messing with those,鈥� said Reisig.
In other words, even in advisory roles, a new governing structure would still need the expertise of the sports people from the commissions.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a big leap of faith,鈥� said Oak Bay Secondary athletic director Rich Fast.
鈥淏ut there will be support for change. Smaller school zones may see this as giving them more regional representation and that being of benefit to them.鈥�
Fast did not divulge how Oak Bay will vote.
The most important factor is how this will affect student athletes on the fields and courts of play once school sports returns after the pandemic. It is pretty much an arcane administrative debate at their level.
鈥淲hichever way the votes goes, I hope most of the high school athletes won鈥檛 even notice,鈥� said Reisig.
