Public high school sports leagues are on hold for the season until the teachers’ strike comes to an end and the labour dispute is resolved.
At least two picketing teachers are, to differing degrees, finding ways for their fall sports programs to continue. Others are concerned for the long-term viability of their programs while still others are discussing the logistics of a shortened season, depending when teachers return to classrooms and resume volunteering as coaches.
At Hamber secondary where the Griffins play Tier II varsity football, head coach Bobby Gibson is not training the team but is allowing community coaches, including two parents, to access equipment and hold practices off school grounds at Montgomery Park.
At Van Tech, Mike Allina said he is making the difficult and unpopular decision to cross picket lines. He will coach the senior boys soccer team and register with B.C. School Sports although he doesn’t know what teams the Talismen will play. Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»public and private schools play in separate leagues, a separation Allina has consistently supported.
Related from April, 2012:Â
No school is running cross-country practices, but coaches are preparing a contingency plan for the last-possible date a city meet could be held in order for student-athletes to attend the B.C. Championship in Victoria on Nov. 1.
Fall sports include volleyball, cross-country, swimming, girls field hockey, boys soccer and rugby, and football. Schools have until Oct. 6 to register teams with B.C. School Sports.
The time teachers put into extra-curricular activities like sports is considered volunteer work, but the majority of teachers who coach and sponsor teams view this work as integral to their professional life as educators.
“In my view, crossing picket lines and continuing extra-curricular activities would go against achieving the best results in bargaining and getting back to schools quickly,” said David Lopez, a teacher and volleyball coach at Killarney secondary. The boys and girls volleyball season is on hold. “There is some leverage in withholding extra-curriculars during this bargaining process, but since it is volunteer work each teacher continues to do what they view is right.”
Gibson, the football coach at Hamber, has the opening day of the season etched in his mind. But if Sept. 26 comes along and teachers are still striking, he will leave the team in the hands of other coaches.
“I will potentially go as a fan as long as I’m not crossing the picket line. But I won’t go as a coach."
It will be “extremely” difficult, he said, “Especially when there are other teachers coaching at other [public] schools. That’s their choice.”Â
In the previous week, seven AA and AAA varsity football games were cancelled. Private school teams, including Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»College and Notre Dame, have continued to train and play pre-seaon games.
Doing more than volunteering to coach the senior boys soccer team at Van Tech, Allina is crossing picket lines. It's a dicision he knows will alienate him from other teachers.
“I let my union rep know in June that I would not picket in September, so I’m not picketing. Basically, I’m not picketing because I don’t agree with the union leadership,” said Allina, who is the athletic director at Van Tech. For the soccer team to play, he will have to register the school with B.C. School sports at a cost of $2,600.Â
As the governing body for all high school sports in the province, B.C. School Sports is not beholden to the government, unions or any public or private school. All competitive seasons are scheduled to begin, even if no public school teams register. The provincial championships are scheduled for November and December, but their status is "wait and see," said the organization’s director Christine Bradstock. Sport commissioners, including those who teach at public schools, have been talking with B.C. School Sports and the commissions and other community members will make a decision about B.C. championships should the strike continue.Â
"We are hoping it gets resolved as quicly as possible," said Bradstock.
“Right now I don’t think there is anything that needs to change with regards to location or timing [of provincial championships] in time for November. If you look at the calendar, we’ve got a little bit of time before that.”
The final registration date and the scheduled championship dates can also be chaged if necessary, she said.Â
At Lord Byng secondary, Ian MacPhee has helped grow the program by developing a competitive team and a pre-season tour to Australia and New Zealand. A teacher for 21 years, he said it’s a struggle to stay optimistic.
“I think that how the provincial government chooses to end this dispute could have an impact on extra-curricular activities in the public schools,” he said. “Teachers might start to question why they are volunteering countless hours of their own time.”
The public school year was scheduled to begin Sept. 2. Escalating job action two years ago near the end of the school year saw some teachers stop volunteering as coaches or sponors while others continued through the end of the spring season.
UPDATE:
Mike Allina wrote me last week to clarify his comments after he said he would cross picket lines during the teachers’ strike. Allina said he did not intend to cross picket lines and apologized for not choosing his words more carefully. He said he made the choice to volunteer as the coach of the Van Tech senior boys soccer team but would not have to cross picket lines to do so.Â
