Tier 1 Football: The big three and a scrappy underdog

After five weeks of tier 1 football in ROPSSAA, the top teams have clearly staked their claim to the league title and now they're trying to find the balance between getting ready for the playoffs while ensuring they don't take the remaining games for granted.

In the south division, Mount Carmel and Lorne Park have separated themselves from the crowd and will not be touched by any of their divisonal opponents. Both teams are deep and explosive though most coaches believe that Carmel has the more dangerous offense while Lorne Park has a slight advantage on D. Mount Carmel came away with a close, 3 point victory over Lorne Park earlier this season but no one thinks the result will be easy to predict, should they meet in the finals.

In the north, St. Marcellinus has proven themselves to be the class of the division. They are chock full of Mississauga Warriors and some coaches believe they have the best quarterback in the GTA. The school has slowly moved into the football spotlight both figuratively and literally. They have built one of the region's powerhouse football programs from scratch in a short time and they play most of their home games under the lights of their beautiful facility on Friday nights. There has been a bit of controversy during the Friday night games, with some acts of violence committed in and around the facility, often by people with no connection to any of the schools playing. As a result, they have increased police protection and banned anyone under 21 who does not have school ID from one of the two schools playing each game.

The dark horse is Xavier, a relative newcomer to tier 1 football in Peel. Their first season in tier 1 was a struggle, as a young team won only one game late in the season. However, now that the full benefits of their junior program are paying off, they have become the clear #2 team in the north, following a big win over favoured Campion. Their two losses against Marcellinus (by 17) and Lorne Park (by 5) were notable for strong play on the line and key interceptions. Given the right circumstances, they might pull an upset in the semi-finals though they are still clearly behind the big 3.

Defending tier 1 champs Notre Dame are in rebuilding mode, as reflected in their 1-3 record, St. Joe's and Aquinas are both having disappointing seasons when compared to previous seasons. However, in the cyclical nature of high football, a team is only ever one or two years away from competing again.

One issue of concern is how the cross-over games might affect the standings. Teams play two games against opponents in the opposite division which means that scheduling can create an imbalanced schedule. The most blatant examples are Xavier's two games against Lorne Park and Mount Carmel, the top two teams in the south and Notre Dames games against the two weakest teams in the south: Loyola and St. Joe's. A situation like this could set up a situation where a team beats all of the rivals below them in the standings but still finishes behind a weaker team because of their cross-over opponents. 

Is there a better solution? What about home-and-home against teams in your own division or setting the cross-over schedule only after teams have played 3 or 4 games against their own division; give each team games against 1 & 6, 2 & 5, or  3 & 4 in the other division? A more radical idea might be one similar to the US: Play the cross over games at the start of the season as "non conference" match ups but only count games against division opponents in the standings.

The other big issue in Peel football is, as always, transfers and recruiting. There are a lot of coaches asking questions about the number of players at certain schools who live outside their borders. How is this happening when both the Catholic and Public school boards do not have a policy of open borders. In fact, many of these schools are "capped" and cannot go even one student over their listed cap. Are students living in the area being turned away because athletes are shopping for the best program? What about the number of transfers being approved, some even involving students who have played at more than one school in the same season? Football, along with basketball, often draw most of the attention in the media over controversial transfers. If this continues to be an issue, OFSAA might use it as an excuse to further enhance already-strict transfer regulations.

As the playoffs approach in Peel, the most significant battles will be for the third and fourth playoff spot in each division. 

In the south, Carmel and Lorne Park have already clinched the top two spots while Carmel only needs one more victory in their last two games to clinch first. Third will probably come down to the match-up between Pocock and Meadowvale, with the loser likely squeaking into the fourth and final spot.

In the north, Marcellinus has already clinched first. Xavier didn't get any help from the person who set their cross-over games but, even if they lose both, they should still easily defeat Aquinas in their final game and do no worse than taking second via tie-breaker. d'Youville and Campion will be close behind with their head to head match-up also settling third and fourth.

After all is said and done, the most likely semi-final scenario seems to be Carmel hosting Xavier and Marcellinus hosting Lorne Park. Anyone who remembers the junior final four from two years ago will find this list of teams very familiar. Yet another example of the cyclical nature of high school football.

Good luck to all teams in the homestretch. Hopefully one of the Peel teams has it in them to knock of the Golden Horshoe  powerhouses from St. Thoma More and Lakeshore Catholic in this year's Golden Horshoe playoffs. 

For more info about ROPSSAA Football, check out the current league standings or the discussion forum at All Canadian Gridiron.

ROPSSAA Senior Girls Basketball: The deepest it's ever been?

After years of domination by Father Goetz, senior girls basketball in Peel is suddenly very interesting. In fact, there are more competitive teams in Peel than in any other league in Ontario this season. (If only the league didn't insist on this 8 division, one tier monstrosity that prevents most of them from meeting until the second round of the playoffs!)

Here are ten teams that stand out amongst the crowd:

1. D'Youville is currently ranked number one in the GTA by HooptownGTA and number two by the Toronto Star, which traditionally does a far less thorough job of including all games played and not just league games and those tournament games selectively reported by self-serving coaches. Besides being undefeated, they also recently won the Sheridan Cup tournament. Not only are they considered the class of Peel but they are also considered to be one of the favourites for a medal at AAAA OFSAA in Sarnia this season.

2. Ascension is #6 in both rankings and is currently undefeated in league play. Their only loss was to d'Youville in the final at Sheridan. They recently won a close, 3-point match over Aquinas, the next best team in the league. The only question is whether they battle it out for a spot at AAAA, improve their chances of an OFSAA medal at AAA OFSAA in St. Catharine's or be the #1 seed at AA OFSAA in Thunder Bay.

3. Aquinas isn't currently listed in either top 10 but after walking through most of the competition while winning the Applewood tournament and a close lose to Ascension, that will change next week. They weren't even on the radar screen in the pre-season but that has quickly changed.

4. Campion is #7 in the Star ranking and is ranked #10 by HooptownGTA. They are also undefeated in league play and made it to the final of the Sacred Heart tournament before losing to a team from Hamilton.

5. Mount Carmel is another big surprise. They are undefeated in league play after many thought they would be no better than third in their division by this point. They looked solid against a very deep field at the Notre Dame Ajax tournament, where they made it to the consolation final after beating a GTA-ranked team from Pine Ridge. 

6. Applewood has experienced a miraculous renaissance under a new coach who has taken all four basketball teams (boys and girls) under his wing. The team is blowing away competition in their division and they have done well in tournament play; winning the consolation final of the Thompson Invitational and losing a close game against Aquinas in the championship final of their own tournament.

7. Father Goetz is an honourable mention in both rankings but much of that is based on their previous repetition. This is a rebuilding year under a new coach but, this being Father Goetz, there is still a solid core of players. They will win their division and should still make it at least as far as the quarter-finals.

8. Lorne Park has ben a solid program in Peel, making the final four two years ago and a solid junior program has moved up to play senior. They are currently just behind Goetz, after a 7-point loss earlier this season.

9. Notre Dame is #10 on the Star list but, after a blowout loss to Campion, their stock will drop. However, it is a young team and they will be dangerous against at least half of the division winners in the first round of the playoffs.

10. Cardinal Leger is undefeated but untested at this point. Their division is weak and until there are some tournament results, they will remain a mystery. However, Leger has had a strong junior program in recent years and they might be for real.

Other teams just outside of this top ten list but also of note include St. Joseph, St. Francis Xavier, Gonzaga, and Loyola.

A lot of these rankings could change next week when the Xavier Rimrocker is held. Six of the top ten, along with two of the honourable mentions will be playing at Xavier and Carmel. This might go a long way in deciding playoff seedings at the end of the regular season, since so many of these teams won't be at the same event again this season.

Good luck to all teams; this could be the year that ROPSSAA finally brings home a basketball gold.

(Thanks to a few coaching and message board sources who assisted me with the research for this post.)

More Transfer Nonsense

According to an article written for the Hamilton Spectator, superintendants in the Hamilton Catholic board routinely ignore OFSAA regulations. The article, titled Board's policies called into question over player status mentions that the board allows players to avoid sitting out a year without transferring, even if they have not met the conditions required by the OFSAA transfer policy.

Some key quotes from the article:

He says the practise that allows an athlete transferring from one school to another being allowed to play without the one-year cooling off period is entirely up to the discretion of the superintendent, and it is not uncommon for a student to be allowed to play, with a superintendent's waiver.

The board chairman also denies allegations the superintendent overseeing athletics merely rubber-stamps transfers.

"We have a policy whereby parents, students and schools are allowed to make transfer requests to the superintendent," Daly said. "Ultimately, the superintendent makes the decision in the best interest of the student. We're not going to apologize for that."

Daly also says the board is aware that letting transfer students play in the same year is at odds with the rules set out by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA).

But he adds schools are aware that the transfer student will not be eligible to play once the school qualifies for GHAC and OFSAA.

"They know that going in," he said. "A player knows he will not be eligible to play in the playoffs."

One of the dirty secrets of high school athletics is the number of students who play right away after transferring even though they should sit out a year. It's interesting to see an article where a school board admits that they condone this. Why? What is the point of the transfer rules if a school board can simply ignore them? Saying that they cannot play in OFSAA isn't good enough. What if the team in question makes the playoffs; how should the team that just missed the playoffs feel? What about the effect on playoff seeding? What about the integrity of the regular season?

If a school board believes that the right to play takes precedence over OFSAA's attempts to prevent powerhouse programs built through recruiting then they should either pull out of their OFSAA region entirely and play among themselves only or they should lobby for a change in the OFSAA policy. Instead the board cheats.

While the Hamilton Catholic Board is the only one that is named in the article, one can be sure it isn't the only one. A lot of it is innuendo but many people believe it to be true. Look at this thread on Hooptown GTA for an example of the belief. Even some coaches claim it happens.

Some have suggested that OFSAA scrap the exceptions altogether and require every student in the province to sit out for a year if they transfer schools, regardless of the reason. Others have suggested a slightly more lenient version where a player must move a minimum distance (I.E. from one part of the province to the other; not from one part of the GTA to another as conveniently happens in some sports on a regular basis).

When one hears stories like the ones below, a stricter rule starts to make sense:

- A football team in Peel had all of its wins stripped after it was revealed that their star player was supposedly living with his coach, according to the documents used to win his transfer appeal.

- Many basketball players living in middle class suburbs around Toronto have moved to economically depressed areas where there just happen to be powerhouse basketball programs.

- A basketball player in Mississauga was called by someone who runs a scouting service and who has connections with a top ten high school program and was told that he could use the scout's home address and transfer without sitting out a year.

- An OFSAA medalist wrestler decides that she doesn't want to take the school bus when her school moves locations and is able to change to another school in her area without sitting out.

- A star basketball player on a weak team "moves" from one parent's home to another so that they can play for the best team in the region. Interestingly, the parents weren't actually separated.

- A football player at a mid-level private school changes to his local public school and wins a transfer appeal, claiming financial hardship as the reason for leaving the school (and not-coincidentally, one of the ways to avoid sitting out a year) . Strangely enough, his Dad is well-known in the financial community and had just been given a significant promotion at a major financial institution.

What do readers think about transfers in general and what other stories are out there? Please feel free to post comments or to e-mail ropssaa@gmail.com.

Also, here is a good summary of the conditions required to avoid sitting out a year, courtesy of a poster on HooptownGTA.

General ROPSSAA Updates

Now that I am back in Peel after year out of country, near my contacts, and have more time to be on-line, I am going to return to updating this blog as often as time permits. Please feel free to post comments or to send any inside info to ropssaa@gmail.com

Here a few general updates about ROPSSAA-related issues to get the blog up and running again.

OFSAA Events Hosted by ROPSSAA

The updated OFSAA 3 year calendar was released earlier this month and ROPSSAA will be hosting the following events over that time period. Bear in mind that not all events have hosts and ROPSSAA might still step in late and host some of these, much as they did with AAAA Volleyball last year.

2008-09 school year

• Wrestling @ the PowerAde Centre in Brampton
• Swimming @ Etobicoke Olympium
• Girls AAAA Volleyball @ venues TBA in Mississauga
• Girls AAA/AAAA Rugby in Brampton (one assumes it will be the Brampton RFC)
• Track and Field South Regional @ location TBA (the assumption is Centennial Park in Etobicoke)

2009-10 school year

• Swimming @ Etobicoke Olympium

2010-11 school year

• Boys AAAA, AAA, AA, and A Volleyball @ locations TBA. (One assumes that such a massive undertaking will involve close to a dozen schools in Peel.)

ROPSSAA Scores Website

Last spring, ROPSSAA introduced a new website for posting and tracking scores and standings. The goal was to automatically update standings as scores were posted by coaches and to allow everyone to see scores scores around the league without waiting a day or two for an overworked convener to transcribe them into pdf format. While many coaches (and some entire schools) still cling to the old school option of calling scopres in, one hopes that eventually, the site will be the only way of posting scores. 

With this web site, ROPSSAA continues to set the standard for making information about the region available on-line. While a few other regions also do a decent job of making info available (Ottawa's Fat Dog immediately comes to mind), most are still woefully inadequate. Come on folks, we're not asking for something award-winning but certainly it would serve everyone better if the various regions made some kind of effort!

2015 Pan-Am Games bids and the potential legacy for ROPSSAA

The media has been full of stories in recent weeks about the Golden Horseshoe's bid for the 2015 Pan-Am Games. Now that all levels of government are on board, the question is whether or not organizers can pull the bid together in time for next summer's bidding. From all reports, a well-organized bid is Canada's to lose. 

If everyone is serious about decentralizing the bid acorss the GTA, Hamilton, and Niagara then it begs the question as to what might happen in Peel. The Hershey Centre and the PowerAde centre are already being talked about as possible venues for Volleyball, Archery, Field Hockey, Handball, according to this post on the Urban Toronto message board. Also mentioned is the possibility of an aquatic facility for swimming. 

There is the potential for more much-needed, quality athletic facilities in the Peel Region, should the Games bid succeed. While some of these needs have been addressed in recent years (Hershey Centre, PowerAde centre, Hershey Sports Zone, St. Marcellinus track and field), more facilities will only help develop more quality athletes and more athletic programs accross the region. ROPSSAA has benefitted greatly from many of these facilities and could certainly use more of them. Cross your fingers for a successful bid.

That's all for this post. If anyone is interested in providing infromation for future posts, please e-mail ropssaa@gmail.com. All sources are confidential. If you enjoy this site, please make sure you pass the link on to others who might be interested.

ROPSSAA Year in Review Part 1: Athletes of the Year

Congratulations to the many athletes of the year at the ROPSSAA schools. Below is a copy of the list of athletes as printed in the Toronto Star earlier in the month. You can view the original article here.

First some numbers:

- 6 schools had co-male athletes of the year and 4 schools had co-female athletes of the year

- There were 4 repeat male winners and 5 repeat female winners

- The most sports played by an athlete of the year was 5, accomplished by both Kevin Caister (Mount Carmel) and Jaimie Slana (Loyola).

- Both Robert Hall and d'Youville did not award male athletes of the year this season; does anyone know why? If so, please e-mail ropssaa@gmail.com.

Below is a list of the sports the athletes of year played. For the boys, the big three (basketball, football, and volleyball) were at the top while volleyball was the most common for the girls.

Most popular sports for male athletes of the year
Listed in order of number of athletes

21: Basketball, Football, Volleyball
12: Soccer
11: Track & Field
10: Rugby
9: Baseball, Hockey
8: Badminton
5: Golf
4: Cross-County, Lacrosse
3: Skiing
2: Softball, Tennis How? Is there an informal competition for boys?
1: Cricket, Curling, Swimming, Table Tennis
0: Archery

Most popular sports for female athletes of the year
Listed in order of number of athletes

41: Volleyball
23: Basketball
22: Soccer
15: Flag Football
12: Track & Field
10: Badminton
9: Rugby
8: Hockey
7: Field Hockey, Softball
6: Lacrosse
5: Tennis
3: Cross-Country
2: Swimming
1: Curling, Skiing, Wrestling
0: Archery, Cricket, Golf, Table Tennis

Here is the list of athletes of the year:

PEEL REGION BOYS

Applewood Heights (Mississauga) — Jason Chuck (football, rugby)

Ascension of Our Lord (Mississauga) — Freddie Appiah-Appiah (basketball, track and field)

Bramalea — Michael Sheppard (football, soccer, rugby)

Brampton Centennial — Sean Allen (golf, volleyball, hockey, lacrosse) and Scott Christian (tennis, volleyball, wrestling, rugby)

Cardinal Leger (Brampton) — Kyle Benoit (baseball) and Nathaniel Smith (baseball)

Cawthra Park (Mississauga) — Wes O'Neill (baseball, basketball, volleyball)

Central Peel (Brampton) — Kevin Smith (baseball, golf, lacrosse, hockey)

Chinguacousy (Brampton) — Jafari Francis (cross-country running, track and field)

Clarkson (Mississauga) — Kevin Coach and Andrew Foster (sports not provided by school)

Erindale (Mississauga) — * Nick Walters (football, basketball, rugby)

Father Goetz (Mississauga) — Ulysses Mendoza (volleyball, basketball, track and field)

Fletcher's Meadow (Mississauga) — Chris Gayle (volleyball, basketball)

Glenforest (Mississauga) — * Sean Lemon (basketball, track and field, volleyball, baseball)

Gordon Graydon (Mississauga) — Andrew Zhuang (badminton, volleyball)

Harold Brathwaite (Mississauga) — Kevin Sy (volleyball, rugby)

Heart Lake (Brampton) — Ian Gibson (cross-country running, hockey, lacrosse, rugby)

Humberview (Bolton) — Zarik Furmanov (wrestling)

Iona (Mississauga) — Richard Whyte (football, basketball, track and field)

John Cabot (Mississauga) — Marco Mazzotta (soccer, cross country running)

John Fraser (Mississauga) — Chris Walker (volleyball, basketball, soccer)

Lincoln Alexander (Mississauga) — * Anirudh Singh (soccer, volleyball, skiing, badminton)

Lorne Park (Mississauga) — Ian Campbell (football, baseball, alpine skiing)

Loyola (Mississauga) — Evan James (football, soccer)

Mayfield (Caledon) — Kristoph Klein-Panneton (football, Nordic skiing, rugby)

Meadowvale (Mississauga) — Cody Allard (football, curling, lacrosse)

Mississauga — Jeff Chou (badminton, volleyball, basketball)

North Park (Brampton) — Michael Groux (football)

North Peel (Brampton) — Julio Orantes (volleyball, softball, badminton, soccer)

Notre Dame (Brampton) — Jabar Westerman (football, basketball)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Mississauga) — Kevin Caister (hockey, golf, volleyball, baseball, badminton) and Wil Wright (swimming)

Philip Pocock (Mississauga) — Mike Chondronikolas (football, track and field, soccer, basketball) and Tom Chondronikolas (football, track and field, soccer, basketball)

Port Credit — Jason Borowski (football, wrestling, baseball)

Rick Hansen (Mississauga) — Benham Amirghassemi (table tennis, volleyball, soccer)

Robert Hall (Caledon) — No one chosen this year

St. Aloysius Gonzaga (Mississauga) — Graham Baillargeon (golf, hockey)

St. Augustine (Brampton) — Travis Frances (volleyball, basketball, track and field)

St. Edmund Campion (Brampton) — Delon Solomon (football, soccer)

St. Francis Xavier (Mississauga) — * Cory Fernandes (rugby, football, basketball)

St. Joan of Arc (Mississauga) — Junior Ellis (football, basketball, soccer, track and field)

St. Joseph (Mississauga) — Harry Ngo (badminton, football)

St. Marcellinus (Mississauga) — Roman Mironovic (soccer, football, hockey)

St. Marguerite d'Youville (Brampton) — No one chosen this year.

St. Martin (Mississauga) — Ekpedeme Moren (football, basketball)

St. Paul (Mississauga) — Justin Lipiec (volleyball, basketball) and Niko Rukavina (hockey, volleyball)

St. Thomas Aquinas (Brampton) — Mitchell Merante (hockey, golf, baseball)

Streetsville (Mississauga) — Paul Cameron (volleyball, rugby) and Caleb Green (volleyball, rugby, hockey)

The Woodlands (Mississauga) — Brandon McKenzie (basketball, football, track and field, cross-country running)

T. L. Kennedy (Mississauga) — Talha Hadi (tennis, cricket, badminton)

Turner/Fenton (Brampton) — Courtney Stephen (football, basketball, track and field)

West Credit (Mississauga) — Lirim Baraku (basketball, volleyball, badminton, softball)

Westside (Orangeville) — Brett Barwick (volleyball, basketball)

PEEL REGION GIRLS

Applewood Heights (Mississauga) — Radha Jain (field hockey, tennis, volleyball, rugby)

Ascension of Our Lord (Mississauga) — Chantelle Selkridge (basketball, track and field)

Bramalea — Alanah Kelly (field hockey, volleyball, soccer)

Brampton Centennial — Lisa May (volleyball, flag football, soccer)

Cardinal Leger (Brampton) — Vanessa Brathwaite (basketball, track and field)

Cawthra Park (Mississauga) — Krissy Carlton (badminton, basketball, volleyball)

Central Peel (Brampton) — Candace Ingleson (volleyball, soccer, softball, flag football)

Chinguacousy (Brampton) — Chantel Tate (rugby, basketball, volleyball)

Clarkson (Mississauga) — Nav Deol (sports not provided by school)

Erindale (Mississauga) — Tina Amir-Ghasemi (swimming, rugby, basketball, hockey)

Father Goetz (Mississauga) — Ryann Fletcher (basketball, volleyball)

Fletcher's Meadow (Mississauga) — Jenee Nairne (basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball)

Glenforest (Mississauga) — Jenny Walker (softball, field hockey, volleyball)

Gordon Graydon (Mississauga) — Alina Maslenkova (tennis, volleyball, badminton)

Harold Brathwaite (Mississauga) — Jamila Zubair (volleyball, track and field, flag football)

Heart Lake (Brampton) — Tanesha Mutch (lacrosse, volleyball, flag football, badminton)

Holy Name of Mary (Mississauga) — Melissa D'Ambrosio (lacrosse, volleyball) and Andrea Joyce (hockey, lacrosse)

Humberview (Bolton) — Sandra Hamilton (field hockey, volleyball, track and field)

Iona (Mississauga) — Cristina Senese (soccer, hockey) and Megan Stoncius (basketball, volleyball, flag football)

John Cabot (Mississauga) — Melanie Oliveira (volleyball, flag football, softball)

John Fraser (Mississauga) — Alyssa Acorn (swimming, flag football, track and field)

Lincoln Alexander (Mississauga) — * Courtney Birchard (basketball, badminton, soccer, volleyball)

Lorne Park (Mississauga) — Jackie Byers (field hockey, lacrosse, alpine skiing, badminton)

Loyola (Mississauga) — * Jaimie Slana (curling, badminton, basketball, volleyball, softball)

Mayfield (Caledon) — Jane Kirby (rugby, flag football)

Meadowvale (Mississauga) — Anna Yazdan (wrestling, rugby, flag football)

Mississauga — Rebecca Dyer (soccer, flag football, volleyball)

North Park (Brampton) — Kelsey May Thompson (badminton, volleyball, flag football, soccer)

North Peel (Brampton) — Hannah Asare (basketball, volleyball, badminton)

Notre Dame (Brampton) — Felicia Turone (soccer, cross country running, volleyball)

Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Mississauga) — Erin Flynn (volleyball, flag football, soccer)

Philip Pocock (Mississauga) — Lisa Shaheen (volleyball, lacrosse, soccer, rugby)

Port Credit — Erica Sertic (field hockey, soccer, ice hockey, volleyball)

Rick Hansen (Mississauga) — Lisa Nguyen (basketball, volleyball)

Robert F. Hall (Caledon) — Ashton Hogan (field hockey, ice hockey, rugby)

St. Aloysius Gonzaga (Mississauga) — Keesha Danso-Dapaah (track and field, flag football, cross-country running)

St. Augustine (Brampton) — Alicia Smith (track and field, basketball, volleyball, soccer)

St. Edmund Campion (Brampton) — * Lindsay Furtado (cross-country running, track and field)

St. Francis Xavier (Mississauga) — Cassie Quayson (basketball, volleyball, soccer)

St. Joan of Arc (Mississauga) — Brittany Gregory (basketball, track and field)

St. Joseph (Mississauga) — Katie Hunter (soccer, flag football, volleyball)

St. Marcellinus (Mississauga) — * Stephanie Folino (basketball, volleyball, track and field)

St. Marguerite d'Youville (Brampton) — Christie Ryan (ice hockey, volleyball, softball)

St. Martin (Mississauga) — Brittany Maciel (basketball, volleyball, badminton, soccer)

St. Paul (Mississauga) — Jenna LaPlante (basketball, volleyball, soccer) and Stephanie Porteous (basketball, volleyball, soccer, track and field)

St. Thomas Aquinas (Brampton) — * Holly Nonis (basketball, volleyball, ice hockey, soccer) and Laura Nyholt (volleyball, soccer)

Streetsville (Mississauga) — Katelin Nicholls (tennis, track and field, volleyball, badminton) and Carolyn Quigley (volleyball, tennis, rugby)

The Woodlands (Mississauga) — Kristen Drury (basketball, lacrosse)

T. L. Kennedy (Mississauga) — Sadaf Chaudhry (volleyball, soccer)

Turner/Fenton (Brampton) — Ashley Boland (rugby, hockey, flag football)

West Credit (Mississauga) — * Stacey Burt (volleyball, basketball, badminton, softball)

Westside (Orangeville) — Natalie Baumlisberger (tennis, volleyball, soccer)

Once again, congratulations to all winners. Part 2 of ROPSSAA year in Review will cover the Fall sports.

ROPSSAA Soccer "On Probation"

Recently, all the soccer coaches in ROPSSAA were contacted by the folks at the board office and told that the sport was "on probation" next season. What does this mean and why was this action taken? Below is what I have managed to find out so far.

Apparently, last season was an especially difficult one in regards to altercations between players; problems with fans; and especially verbal abuse from coaches and players towards referees. I have been lead to believe that this action was taken after complaints from the group representing referees in the area and threats not to do high school matches any more.

As far as what the probation involves, that has not been made entirely clear. Teams will be monitored more closely at the board office and there will be a greater emphasis on referees reporting problems to those that run ROPSSAA. However, there have been no specific threats made in regards to what exactly are the standards for reportable behaviour and the potential consequences. No one is even sure what thresh-hold must be met in order for the league as a whole to fail this probationary period.

As can be expected, the coaches in ROPSSAA have not taken this news very well. Many believe that the problem is limited to a few frequent offenders but that those in charge simply can't be bothered to deal with them on a case-by-case basis. One former ROPSSAA soccer convener has even written a rather angry and accusatory response, blaming recent conveners for not dealing with disciplinary problems on a timely basis. This convener has even offered to run the show next year in order to ensure that things improve.

What ROPSSAA hopes to accomplish with this probation isn't entirely clear. Many coaches did not see any noticeable decline in behaviour this past season so they fear that they will only discover the standards too late. Others believe that it's simply a show to quiet the referees. They also wonder why referees have not taken this same action in rep soccer where violations are more numerous. They believe it's a big bluff since referees would never give up high school games where they are paid the same as rep soccer but have shorter games; less paper work to complete; and specific people in authority (i.e. principals) o whom they can complain if a coach or team is especially difficult.

Look for this issue to flare up for a few weeks; for the Toronto Star to exploit it for one of their many creating-controversy-in-high-school-sports-where-none-exists articles; and then for the probation to magically disappear after next season.

OFSAA AGM

I apologise for the lack of posts the past week and a half, I was away for a large portion of the time.

OFSAA will host their Annual General Meeting and various competition meetings this Thursday and Friday. One of the most important items of business will be selecting hosts fo the various OFSAA championships. OFSAA runs under a 3-year championship calendar and so hosts as far away as the 2009-10 school year will be awarded.

On the other hand, there are still some hosting duties still unfilled for next year and that could be a problem if no one steps forward. As of this moment the following sports do not have a host (co-ed unless otherwise listed): Girls Field Hockey, Wrestling, Swimming, Badminton, Boys AAAA Soccer, Boys baseball East & West Semi-Finals, Boys Field Lacrosse (Festival Status), and Snowboard Racing (Festival Status).

After cruising the message boards for a while, I have discovered that there is at least one bidder coming forward to host wrestling next year from an area south of Hamilton (Hagersville/Caledonia). There are paarently bidders for field hockey, swimming, and lacrosse too but the names of the bidding groups don't seem to be out there.

OTOH, OFSAA states on its website that if no one comes forward by this Friday, Boys AAAA Soccer, Boys Baseball East & West Semi-Finals (which are necessary in order to hold the final four the following weekend at the Rogers Centre), and Snowboard Racingwill not be held next year.

I had previously heard rumours of ROPSSAA bidding for AAAA Soccer next year after doing so well in 2005 (winning gold, silver and bronze in Mississauga) but, if it hapens, I assume Father Goetz will not spearhead the bid due to recent controversies with the coach. I would also not be shocked to see a ROPSSAA bid to host swimming at the Etobicoke Olympium yet again.

Right now, the only championships that ROPSSAA will host next season are Boys AAAA Volleyball and the Boys Gold Festival.

Other business will include various rules proposals, the most controversial of which would be the annual push to apply international rules to Ontario High School basketball. With the CIS adopting it for the men's game next season (it was already adopted for the women's), there will be more pressure for Ontario to conform. Many of the changes would be fairly easy to implement: longer quarters, coaches calling time-outs with no carry over, rules on traveling, etc.; some would require more training of (usually student) timers such as stop time in last two minutes of game after every field goal; and, most difficult for the schools, lines would need to be repainted and a shot clock implemented and training provided to use it. It's the shot clock that has lead school to vote against it, even as the OBA implemented it this past season. However, the OBA isn't facing annual cost cutting by the Ministry and the school boards to pay for the new infrastucture.

You can download a list of rule differences here.

If I hear about any significant rule changes, I will let you know. If you here of any please e-mail me.