St. Martin's has not made much noise in ROPSSAA athletics over the past decade. However, after the nonsense that went on with the senior boys basketball team, they are certainly the centre of attention but for all the wrong reasons.
St. Martin's basketball coach was the former assistant at Peel contender Father Goetz. Meanwhile the principal at St. Martin's applied for, and was given, regional sports program status. These two seemingly unrelated items came together when a former Father Goetz player left a US prep school program and arrived at the front door of St. Martin's with five club basketball friends in tow. Voila! The new regional sports school had its first sports powerhouse with a basketball team lead by six, count 'em six, fifth year transfers. Glory and fame was just around the corner.
But then the cold, harsh reality of ROPSSAA transfer regulations intervened.
It seems that all six players supposedly moved into the St. Martin's zone. However, it also seems that five of the six did not move with their parents or legal guardians. Oops, someone must have forgotten to read the regulations closely, especially where it reads, "students moving on their own, or to live with a different 'guardian' or to a different school system not closer to their home may not apply under this section. Just like that, a new Peel powerhouse was over before it even began.
However, that didn't stop the players from competing for their new school. ROPSSAA is one of the few regions in Ontario that allows ineligible players to compete in tournaments and exhibition games (Surprising when one considers they are also the only region to limit grade 9 eligibility.) so that is exactly what they did. The team even won the semit-prestigious Pinky Lewis tournament in Hamilton. This generated a fair bit of hype but it also generated a lot of derision in basketball circles, with accusations of a de-facto prep team playing against more legitimate high school teams filled with eligible players.
The question must also be asked about the remainder of the team: How do they feel about five players who cannot represent the team in league play taking most of the playing time while the rest of team rides the bench? How is the team going to have any hope of being competitive if the players who are eligible don't have the same development opportunities provided by tournament play? How do parents feel about a prep lineup playing courtesy of their tax dollars and at the expense of their sons' development?
While no one will say it out loud this certainly smacks of recruitment so another question must be asked: Who was responsible? Did the players organize independently of the school; did the coach call on his former players; or was admin involved? I have no idea what the truth is so I will not make any direct accusations but it certainly doesn't look good for all those involved.
Tongues are wagging in ROPSSAA as St. Martin's looks like a bottom dweller in league play while playing in high level tournaments where eligibility rules don't matter. There will be a number of motions at the ROPSSAA AGM to change the rules and prevent ineligible players from competing for a school in any game. All of these will be made with one eye looking St. Martin's way.
