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.
8 comments:
What is a school sports designation?
What is the point of a school having a sports designation, if students are restricted from attending?
I am glad that the eligable players have a chance to play, however, that line up should participate in the B or C division.
I am also glad that the ineligiable players are still able to play in exhibition as I would welcome the chance to see these talented players play.
The important thing is that the students recieve an education and finish with a diploma.
Don't blame St. Martin for this.
The tournament organizers are allowing ineligible players to play, so St. Martin can do what they want. OFSAA used to make a big deal about getting your tournament "sanctioned" in order to keep the ineligible players out but it is more of a hassle than anything so the organizers don't bother.
I can't imagine that St. Martin actually thought the players would be granted eligibility; anyone with even a basic understanding of the transfer rule knows this (and anyone with a working understanding of ROPSSAA knows that it is the toughest Association in the province for transfers). St. Martin only needs to be comfortable telling the guys who have put 2 and 3 years into St Martin basketball to ride the pine while the prep team plays in front of them.
This might come back to haunt them, of course. If I am the parent of a Grade 8 kid with good skills (but not college level), I would be looking at another area high school so this wouldn't happen to my son in Grade 11/12.
@Anonymous
A sports school designation is no different from other regional programs like Arts, AP, IB, and French Immersion. However, just like them, it does not provide an exception to OFSAA or ROPSSAA transfer rules. These programs are mostly geared towards incoming grade 9s who then stay for their full four (or five) years of high school, as opposed to being used to lure students from other schools in later grades.
The point of these schools, from an eligibility point of view, these schools have is that they can accept incoming grade 9s from outside of their school boundaries without forcing them to sit out a year, as happens to grade 9s from outside of school boundaries who are not in a regional program.
@Marty
If St. Martins didn't expect the players to be eligible then why would they submit for transfer eligibility in the first place and, when denied, why did they bother to appeal?
I agree with your other points, especially the idea that they need to be accountable to their own players and they can expect resistance from some incoming players and parents.
At the end of the day, this might be another nail in the coffin of regional sports programs being league and OFSAA eligible and also another step to CIS-style rules where all transfers sit out for a year, regardless of the circumstances.
@ ROPSSAA Report
As I said before, there must be someone at St. Martin who doesn't have a basic knowledge of the transfer rule. Were the players were given the impression that they could play and did the appeal take place to try to save face?
Another point...ROPSSAA has never condoned or encouraged ineligible players to take part in exhibition or tournament play, they just have never policed the OFSAA transfer rule that states you cannot play ANYTHING until cleared by a transfer committee. It has come back to bite some athletes who start at school A, transfer to B and play exhibition and then transfer to C and find that they cannot play yet another year.
If the sports school idea becomes more prevalent outside the GTA, I think you will start to see "Ontario High School Championships" that are not OFSAA-based. Don't hold your breath waiting for OFSAA to create "AAAAA" for sports schools or ineligble students anytime soon.
Within 5 years, you will see St. Martin attracting enough of the top athletes in Mississauga that the rest of ROPSSAA will not want to or be able to compete with them. Goetz should go ask the schools in the same vicinity as Birchmount Park and Bill Crothers how successful their sports teams have been lately (welcome to Tier 2, Gators!)
Its a shame people think St. Matin recruits kids. These students came to the school in order get credits and play basketball.
They are not allowed to play in league play BUT as a way to keep them engaged in school, they have been allowed to play in tournaments and exhibition games.
From what i have heard St. Martins only have 12 kids tryout for their team, which included the 4 ineligible students. The notion that there are 6 is incorrect!!
At the end of the day this is high school sports and these are students who need to graduate school, basketball keeps them involved and keeps them in school.
I ask the question....the student that came from the US. Is it unfair he was made ineligible even though he hasn't played in Canada in over 2 years?
ROPSSAA is a joke. They can't even make a schedule correctly!!
They made a decision about these players as a group and not individually.
They still have not said yes or no about 1 player. They refuse to give an answer is that fair??
A player has not played in Canada for 2 years and they are making an assumption he played somewhere else. What proof do they have?
Does anyone know??
ROPSSAA does not consider group transfer appeals; each applicant is reviewed individually. According to ROPSSAA all of the applicants were reviewed and received a reply.
OTOH, many coaches agree with you about the schedule; especially in junior. A six game schedule spread over three months is silly.
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