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Massive change coming to B.C. high school sports

New governance model passed at B.C. School Sports AGM; high school sport commissions to be 含羞草研究社榩hased out含羞草研究社
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Tweedsmuir running back Noah Anderson, the football clearly out of his hands (seen by his left knee), crosses the one-yard line as he runs for a touchdown in a game in November 2019. The governance of high school football and mostly all other high school sports is changing after a pivotal vote May 1. (Photo: Malin Jordan)

Big changes are coming to high school sports.

B.C. School Sports (BCSS) won its governance proposal vote at their AGM May 1 and this will immediately change the way high school sports is run in this province. The vote passed 212-77, garnering the required two-thirds majority of votes.

As of May 2, the 20 sport commissions in B.C. and their many volunteers are basically out as decision-makers for their respective sports. But some of the commissions are legal entities and it含羞草研究社檚 unknown what they will do moving forward, or what type of influence they含羞草研究社檒l have.

Paul Eberhardt, treasurer for the boys high school basketball commission, has already indicated his commission will continue to work in the best interests of boys basketball, whether it be from inside the new system or from outside.

含羞草研究社淲e are very disappointed that the BCSS Governance proposal was adopted,含羞草研究社 Eberhardt told the Cloverdale Reporter via email. 含羞草研究社淲e do not believe this is what is best for high school sport in this Province. Our Association has been around for 75 years, and we are certainly not going away. We will continue to work hard on behalf of all our coaches and student-athletes to make sure their voices are heard.含羞草研究社

Jordan Abney, BCSS executive director, said he含羞草研究社檚 thrilled the proposal passed.

含羞草研究社淚t was a lot of years of work from a lot of different people,含羞草研究社 he said. 含羞草研究社淚t was a very strong mandate and clear message about the direction the membership wants to go.含羞草研究社

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Abney said he was surprised at the 含羞草研究社渂ig margin含羞草研究社 by which the vote passed. The proposal needed 66.7 per cent of 含羞草研究社測es含羞草研究社 votes and ended up getting 73 per cent. Usually there are about 450 schools registered with BCSS, but Abney said a number of smaller schools didn含羞草研究社檛 pay their fees this year as there were no high school sports due to COVID. He said there were only 375 fee-paying member schools that were eligible to vote.

含羞草研究社淥f that, there were six abstentions and 80 schools didn含羞草研究社檛 vote,含羞草研究社 he explained. 含羞草研究社淪o, 295 of 375 schools participated. Given the fact that this was probably the single largest vote in the 53-year history of the organization, it also explains the need for a bit of a tweak from a governance perspective, as well.含羞草研究社

Abney said there were 247 advance ballots cast and only 48 ballots cast at the AGM.

He said BCSS already has all the paperwork prepared and ready to go out the door so the next steps toward this sweeping change will begin immediately.

含羞草研究社淭he legislative assembly will come together quickly. The transition from the commissions to the SACs (sport-advisory committees) will also help with zone reps含羞草研究社攚e have invites going out to various commissioners含羞草研究社攁nd other committees will be formed.含羞草研究社

He said he wants to get all the wheels in motion before the summer break, adding the new governance system will mean business as usual for student athletes.

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含羞草研究社淚 don含羞草研究社檛 think the student athlete experience is going to change drastically, especially for the high-profile sports,含羞草研究社 Abney explained. 含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e hoping to continue to maintain the status and level of the high-profile sports and to elevate the experience for athletes in some of the sports that have not had quite the same experience.含羞草研究社

He added after the transition to the new model, they含羞草研究社檙e going to look at ways to help improve all sports.

含羞草研究社淥ur commissions含羞草研究社攖hat are essentially being phased out here含羞草研究社攈ave really focused on championships,含羞草研究社 he noted. 含羞草研究社淏ut only about 13 or 14 per cent of student athletes make it to championships. So there含羞草研究社檚 a whole swathe of kids that don含羞草研究社檛 make it that far that we are also responsible for. So we含羞草研究社檙e going to take a look at that and look at how we can serve all 70,000 student athletes.含羞草研究社

Walter van Halst, commissioner for boys rugby and a teacher at Cloverdale含羞草研究社檚 Lord Tweedsmuir, said he含羞草研究社檚 disappointed with the result and 含羞草研究社渧ery disturbed含羞草研究社 by a voting process that he says wasn含羞草研究社檛 transparent.

含羞草研究社淚 don含羞草研究社檛 know what I含羞草研究社檓 going to do now,含羞草研究社 he indicated. 含羞草研究社淏ut I含羞草研究社檓 very worried about the future of high school sports in British Columbia含羞草研究社攚hich were already in decline.含羞草研究社

According to van Halst, the number of teacher-coaches has steadily dropped across the province.

含羞草研究社淏ig drop in the last five to 10 years, and that含羞草研究社檚 bad for kids because it means less teams that kids can play on.含羞草研究社

He said the new governance model, which he fought against, devalues community-coaches in favour of teacher-coaches and takes the voice away from community-coaches.

(Community-coaches and retired teacher-coaches are not allowed to be a part of the new governance system, only active teachers and administrators. This is different from the commissions which have quite a high number of volunteers that are not active teachers/administrators.)

含羞草研究社淲hen coaches aren含羞草研究社檛 valued, it含羞草研究社檚 bad for kids, because fewer people will be willing to volunteer. And this new model doesn含羞草研究社檛 show appreciation for community-coaches.含羞草研究社

He said he doesn含羞草研究社檛 think the SACs (essentially powerless replacements of the commissions, that sit below two new layers of empowered decision makers) will attract the same massive numbers of volunteers.

含羞草研究社淭hese people volunteer because they含羞草研究社檙e passionate about their sport. They feel appreciated and empowered. And that含羞草研究社檚 why they do it.含羞草研究社

Van Halst also thinks the voting process wasn含羞草研究社檛 entirely transparent.

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含羞草研究社淢any of the ADs, or principals含羞草研究社攂ecause I含羞草研究社檝e heard some principals were voting in place of their ADs含羞草研究社攚ho voted in advance didn含羞草研究社檛 know exactly what they were voting for,含羞草研究社 he said. 含羞草研究社淭he people who voted Saturday (May 1), didn含羞草研究社檛 either because no one knows how many stakeholder groups were consulted.含羞草研究社

Two days before the AGM, that the B.C. Teachers含羞草研究社 Federation, one of the stakeholder groups listed as being involved in the new legislative assembly, wasn含羞草研究社檛 asked to be part of the new model. BCSS responded with a statement from their board of directors that said, 含羞草研究社淎n invitation for the BCTF to name a Legislative Assembly member is already prepared, should governance pass so they can begin their process. Just as invitations are prepared for all other stakeholder groups, who as a result of our current relationships have varying levels of knowledge of the proposal.含羞草研究社

Abney disagreed with van Halst, saying the entire process was very transparent. He said the actual vote covered the bylaws and handbook and the proposal was a supplementary document.

含羞草研究社淲hat was in the bylaws 含羞草研究社 was never changed or altered at all,含羞草研究社 he said. 含羞草研究社淲hat was voted on in the advance voting was exactly what was voted on in the live voting.含羞草研究社

He also said the voting system was very secure. 含羞草研究社淓very school had to register their vote and got a secure pin that was individualized to their school that was sent directly to their principal of record in our membership system.含羞草研究社

He said a lot of the people that were against the new proposal and unhappy about the change have since contacted Abney to say 含羞草研究社渏ob well done含羞草研究社 and have told him they are looking to move forward together.

含羞草研究社淚 think the margin of victory, over 73 per cent, is a strong mandate from our membership 含羞草研究社 our focus right now is looking forward on how we now put this into action and ensure we含羞草研究社檙e ready to go for the fall.含羞草研究社



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Malin Jordan

About the Author: Malin Jordan

Malin is the editor of the Cloverdale Reporter.
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