High school sports in this province could be in for big changes, but not for at least a season or two, according to the head of the B.C. High School Boys Basketball Association.
Ken Dockendorf, has coached the Maple Ridge Ramblers for half a century and is also the president of the association, and now feels the association has been made redundant.
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On Saturday, a vote was held by BC School Sports that changes the governance model for athletics. The vote passed 212-77, garnering the required two-thirds majority of votes.
Dockendorf said coaches were not involved in the voting, and will not be involved in future sports administration decisions – even though they have always been the engine of high school athletics.
“They have bypassed the people actually involved in B.C. school sports,” he said. “Coaches have no voice, literally, in how things will be run.”
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’s unknown what they will do moving forward, or what type of influence they’ll have.
Jordan Abney, BCSS executive director, said he’s thrilled the proposal passed.
“It was a lot of years of work from a lot of different people,” he said. “It was a very strong mandate and clear message about the direction the membership wants to go.”
Abney said athletes should not notice the change, and Dockendorf has been told his association will continue to run the provincial tournament and the process by which teams qualify.
“Initially, it should be business as usual,” he said.
He doesn’t like that the 450 schools in the province have lost their individual votes under the new representative system, and says it will be cumbersome – “a total, bureaucratic mess.” But he has been told his group can make recommendations, and systems will largely continue as is.
Dockendorf said the major threat to next year’s sports is still the global pandemic.
“The biggest issue is COVID – it will determine how successful the season will be,” he said.
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Abney said BCSS already has all the paperwork prepared, and the next steps will begin immediately.
“The legislative assembly will come together quickly. The transition from the commissions to the SACs (sport-advisory committees) will also help with zone reps – we have invites going out to various commissioners – and other committees will be formed.”
He said he wants to get all the wheels in motion before the summer break.
– With files from Malin Jordan
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