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乌鸦传媒檚 unknown what they will do moving forward, or what type of influence they乌鸦传媒檒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.

乌鸦传媒淲e are very disappointed that the BCSS Governance proposal was adopted,乌鸦传媒� Eberhardt told the Cloverdale Reporter via email. 乌鸦传媒淲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.乌鸦传媒�

Jordan Abney, BCSS executive director, said he乌鸦传媒檚 thrilled the proposal passed.

乌鸦传媒淚t was a lot of years of work from a lot of different people,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淚t was a very strong mandate and clear message about the direction the membership wants to go.乌鸦传媒�

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Abney said he was surprised at the 乌鸦传媒渂ig margin乌鸦传媒� by which the vote passed. The proposal needed 66.7 per cent of 乌鸦传媒測es乌鸦传媒� 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乌鸦传媒檛 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.

乌鸦传媒淥f that, there were six abstentions and 80 schools didn乌鸦传媒檛 vote,乌鸦传媒� he explained. 乌鸦传媒淪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.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淭he legislative assembly will come together quickly. The transition from the commissions to the SACs (sport-advisory committees) will also help with zone reps乌鸦传媒攚e have invites going out to various commissioners乌鸦传媒攁nd other committees will be formed.乌鸦传媒�

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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乌鸦传媒淚 don乌鸦传媒檛 think the student athlete experience is going to change drastically, especially for the high-profile sports,乌鸦传媒� Abney explained. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙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.乌鸦传媒�

He added after the transition to the new model, they乌鸦传媒檙e going to look at ways to help improve all sports.

乌鸦传媒淥ur commissions乌鸦传媒攖hat are essentially being phased out here乌鸦传媒攈ave really focused on championships,乌鸦传媒� he noted. 乌鸦传媒淏ut only about 13 or 14 per cent of student athletes make it to championships. So there乌鸦传媒檚 a whole swathe of kids that don乌鸦传媒檛 make it that far that we are also responsible for. So we乌鸦传媒檙e going to take a look at that and look at how we can serve all 70,000 student athletes.乌鸦传媒�

Walter van Halst, commissioner for boys rugby and a teacher at Cloverdale乌鸦传媒檚 Lord Tweedsmuir, said he乌鸦传媒檚 disappointed with the result and 乌鸦传媒渧ery disturbed乌鸦传媒� by a voting process that he says wasn乌鸦传媒檛 transparent.

乌鸦传媒淚 don乌鸦传媒檛 know what I乌鸦传媒檓 going to do now,乌鸦传媒� he indicated. 乌鸦传媒淏ut I乌鸦传媒檓 very worried about the future of high school sports in British Columbia乌鸦传媒攚hich were already in decline.乌鸦传媒�

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

乌鸦传媒淏ig drop in the last five to 10 years, and that乌鸦传媒檚 bad for kids because it means less teams that kids can play on.乌鸦传媒�

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.)

乌鸦传媒淲hen coaches aren乌鸦传媒檛 valued, it乌鸦传媒檚 bad for kids, because fewer people will be willing to volunteer. And this new model doesn乌鸦传媒檛 show appreciation for community-coaches.乌鸦传媒�

He said he doesn乌鸦传媒檛 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.

乌鸦传媒淭hese people volunteer because they乌鸦传媒檙e passionate about their sport. They feel appreciated and empowered. And that乌鸦传媒檚 why they do it.乌鸦传媒�

Van Halst also thinks the voting process wasn乌鸦传媒檛 entirely transparent.

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乌鸦传媒淢any of the ADs, or principals乌鸦传媒攂ecause I乌鸦传媒檝e heard some principals were voting in place of their ADs乌鸦传媒攚ho voted in advance didn乌鸦传媒檛 know exactly what they were voting for,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淭he people who voted Saturday (May 1), didn乌鸦传媒檛 either because no one knows how many stakeholder groups were consulted.乌鸦传媒�

Two days before the AGM, that the B.C. Teachers乌鸦传媒� Federation, one of the stakeholder groups listed as being involved in the new legislative assembly, wasn乌鸦传媒檛 asked to be part of the new model. BCSS responded with a statement from their board of directors that said, 乌鸦传媒淎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.乌鸦传媒�

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.

乌鸦传媒淲hat was in the bylaws 乌鸦传媒� was never changed or altered at all,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淲hat was voted on in the advance voting was exactly what was voted on in the live voting.乌鸦传媒�

He also said the voting system was very secure. 乌鸦传媒淓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.乌鸦传媒�

He said a lot of the people that were against the new proposal and unhappy about the change have since contacted Abney to say 乌鸦传媒渏ob well done乌鸦传媒� and have told him they are looking to move forward together.

乌鸦传媒淚 think the margin of victory, over 73 per cent, is a strong mandate from our membership 乌鸦传媒� our focus right now is looking forward on how we now put this into action and ensure we乌鸦传媒檙e ready to go for the fall.乌鸦传媒�

editor@cloverdalereporter.com
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