Some mixed messaging on COVID restrictions has made for a change.org petition from parents and supporters of High School athletics, with the petition a call for the Ministry of Education to relax its current rules on High School sports play.
Last week, the Public Health Officer released new guidelines related to amateur sports, though the relaxation of some of the guidelines hasn't yet made it to the high school level, where the Ministry of Education has chosen to hold to the ban on tournament play, while allowing for for single team contests.
As we outlined in January, that's the current state of affairs for Charles Hays athletes and others across the Northwest, where individual play dates are still a go, but weekend tournaments still not allowed, an are of note for basketball fans with the run up to the Provincial championships normally held in late February and march now underway.
For the Senior Boys Charles Hays Rainmakers, the restrictions make for challenges for their own tournament set for the upcoming weekend, which should the rules not change, would be limited in scope and again without any number of spectators allowed in to view the contests.
To try and encourage the Ministry to change its rules, the change.org petition was launched over the weekend, with the originators making note of the cross messaging in place at the moment on COVID related restrictions.
On Tuesday, Jan.25th provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said that the restriction on youth sports tournaments would be lifted as of Feb. 1.
During the live briefing Dr. Bonnie said "I know this is an important time of the year for many different sports, especially team sports, and we’ve been working with organizers and with viaSport to make sure that this can be done in a safe way,”
While in the moment it appeared to be exciting news for all, we have now since learned that the Ministry of Education has decided to keep the addendum of K to 12 guidelines in place without changes, meaning that all BC High School Sports tournaments are still prohibited from taking place, even though Dr. Bonnie Henry said herself that this was "an important time of year for many different sports"
The reasoning behind the Ministry of Education's decision is unclear, which makes it even more frustrating for the schools, the coaches, the athletes, the parents and the fans. If community sports tournaments of all kinds can resume on Feb.1st there should be no reason why BC High School Sports Tournaments cannot resume as well.The initial goal for the petition was listed at 15,000 signatures and as of the non hour, the total count of signatories to the call to the Province is just under the 12,000 mark.
You can review more notes on the petition from the change.org website here.
The topic has generated some discussion at the provincial level, with a few reviews as to how parents and athletes view the issue found below:
Petition pushes BC government to allow restart of school sports tournaments
A Grassroots movement takes root. Parent-launched petition opposing continue ban on BC High School sports tournaments giving huge on-line traction
Advocates 'stunned' BC school sports can't resume along with other youth tournaments
BC youth sports tournaments to resume - but not school-based championships
More notes on Education can be explored here.
Updates on the Rainmaker Athletics programs can be found from our archive.
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