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Check out the latest issue of Learn – The Magazine of BC Education to find an article by The Honourable Bruce Preston, Commissioner for Teacher Regulation.  In the article you will find helpful information to assist you with coaching your teams.  The article, titled “Professional Conduct Advisory On Coaching School Sports”, can be found on page 22 of Learn, or in the PDF copy found here: https://www.bcteacherregulation.ca/Magazine/Current.aspx

Congratulations to Mo Williams 2014 Presidents' Award Winner presented by Sport BC

Introduction As the governing body for school sport in British Columbia, BC School Sports (BCSS) has a strong history of using a committee structure to oversee the running of our organization. The School Membership Disciplinary Committee (SMDC) convenes when issues of compliance with the Rules and Regulations arise. The SMDC is to meet as soon as possible (within twenty (20) working days of receipt of the initial charge). The SMDC designated in 3.2.2.1 of the Constitution and Bylaws, after investigating the charges, shall rule on one of the points listed in 3.2.2.4. During the process of rebuilding the registration system for the 440 schools and the 100,000 student-athletes involved in school sport in BC, the office staff have found some issues with the student transfer processes that some schools were using in the Exnet system. Some of these could be easily corrected by BCSS staff, for some the schools were contacted and the issues are quickly fixed and some were more complex. This process is still ongoing and will continue until Exnet is cleaned up. Facts At the end of November, BCSS staff discovered that a member school was using the rule D9.8.5 of the Rules and Regulations “District Academic Program” to register incoming students to their International Baccalaureate (IB) and French Immersion (FI) programs. D9.8.5 is for students who attend a short term program at a different school and are only eligible to compete for their original school under this rule. This member school has both IB and FI programs.  The Pre IB grade 10 program takes in approximately 120 students per year and the IB grade 11 program takes in 135 students per year.  Not all students are from outside of the school. Over the last 5 years over 150 students were transferred by this school on Exnet using the D9.8.5 rule and not the proper process of doing an application to the Eligibility Officer. Some students would have been immediately eligible, some would not have been deemed eligible and some would have required further information. There were also other student-athletes that were transferred into the school for other reasons.  The eligibility of these student-athletes was considered as well. Timeline November 15, 2013 – BCSS became aware of the incorrect transfers on Exnet December 3, 2013 – Christine Bradstock, BCSS Executive Director met with representatives from the school, explained the situation and requested that Eligibility Applications be sent in for all students who would not be considered eligible. December 17, 2013 – The first 5 eligibility applications were submitted to the Eligibility Officer. January, 2014 – E-mails were exchanged, some applications and other documents were submitted but not everything. January 27, 2014 – SMDC met to consider facts, review documentation and make a decision regarding discipline.  Representatives from the school were invited and encouraged to attend, they elected not to come. February 2014 – SMDC requested more information and a second and third meeting occurred. The school attended the third meeting. Issues The SMDC has looked at the data and assessed the situation in two ways: Looking closely at nearly 150 student-athlete transfers that occurred over the last 5 years: it was determined that the proper process of transferring student-athletes into this school had not been followed. Most of these transfer reasons were listed as D9.8.5 District Academic Program when in fact they were students entering the IB and FI programs. There were some student-athletes that were transferred in without going through any process at all. The amount of time taken to go through the list was long but the SMDC was pleased to do the process so that they understood the situation in detail. Looking at the school’s process with respect to student-athlete transfers and registration: as the job of the SMDC is to determine the discipline of the school member, this is the area that they spent most of their time on when they first met on Monday, January 27; reconvened on Tuesday, February 4; and reconvened again on Friday, February 14.  When a school has not fulfilled their condition for maintenance of membership under Article II 2.3 then the SMDC can rule under Article III of the Constitution and Bylaws. Submissions The SMDC respectfully leaves the decision of each individual student-athletes eligibility up to the BCSS office and the Eligibility Officer for their determination. School administration acknowledged that proper practice had not been followed in the past. Practice was the responsibility of AD, who is now moved to a different school.  The school has submitted over 25 Eligibility Applications to date for students who had already played. As a result of these applications, most students were deemed eligible, some students were deemed not eligible and some games were forfeited. Analysis It was the wish of the SMDC and of BCSS to have as many student-athletes as possible properly registered online, and to be able to be eligible and play school sports.  The SMDC and BCSS both wished to have the Athletic Director and school Administration understand the rules and be positively engaged in the school sport community.  It is also the hope that the member school take responsibility for their job of ensuring that student-athletes are eligible before playing, and that proper process is followed to ensure student-athletes were eligible. Conclusion The SMDC has ruled under 3.2.2.4 (b) (iv) of the Constitution and Bylaws with the following: A letter of reprimand be sent to the member school administration outlining the violations that were discovered and an acknowledgment of the willingness of the school to work cooperatively and proactively with BCSS in the future to ensure all instances of student-transfer and athletic eligibility are managed according to BCSS policy and regulations. A probationary period is waived due to the fact that it is a first offense. Prior to September 30, 2014 the member school’s Athletic Director initiate and schedule an in person meeting with the Executive Director of BCSS at the BCSS office. During this meeting they will review expected practices, procedures and the applicable regulations and processes in place with regard to student-athlete eligibility.  This is intended to ensure that there is an educative and supportive component that is put in place to avoid errors in the interpretation of student-athlete transfer eligibility in the future. A fine of $2000 that will cover the out of pocket expenses associated with this process. A report to be completed by the BCSS office that outlines the process, nature of the violations and the disciplinary outcome. This report will be posted in the next BCSS newsletter for the purpose of informing all member schools about the process as well as to assist in educating them.  The member school will not be named in the newsletter.

TELUS is once again sponsoring the BCSSGBA Scholarships Program.  The $2,000 scholarships will be presented to five female student athletes that will be continuing their post-secondary education and basketball career at a Canadian College or University for the 2014/15 academic year. Please see the attached scholarship application form for the Student-Athletes on your teams.  The applications are due February 28, 2014.

BCSS would like to recognize outstanding coaches in our schools.  If you know of a coach who has done an excellent job mentoring student-athletes in their sport, or someone who has gone above and beyond this past fall season, we encourage you to nominate them for this award. Please use the form (below) to submit your nomination package.  Nominations must be submitted by an Athletic Director or Principal.  The due date for nominations is January 10, 2014. Please click here to get the form.   Please direct all inquiries to info@bcschoolsports.ca.

My name is Arieon Trinity and I am reaching out to you on behalf of the NCAA to let you know about the 2013 Divison I Women's Volleyball Championship being played at the KeyArena in Seattle, WA. Also, during the Championship Weekend is the AVCA's Annual Coaches Convention December 18-22nd at the Washington State Convention Center! I wanted to reach out to you directly so you would have the best chance to attend the championships on December 19th & 21st!  The AVCA' Annual Coach's Convention is the largest gathering of volleyball coaches and vendors in the world. More that 2,000 coaches, 100 exhibitors and 70 educational sessions featuring the top coaches in the US and Canada, The Head Coach of The University of British Columbia will be one of our Keynote speakers. Programming geared to all levels, indoor & beach male and female players. Package pricing ranging from $469 for 5 days to $189 for the weekend only. The best part for you, your family, friends, and coaches is that the NCAA is offering great group rates for groups 10 people or larger, as well as great individual All-Session rates with NO additional FEES! All you need to do is contact me directly at 206-973-0606 and we can hand pick your exact location and make sure you have the best seats in the house. I am looking forward to talking with you soon and having you out to the KeyArena for the 2013 Women’s Volleyball Championship! I hope to hear from you soon!

Abbotsford Sr AA Girls basketball is looking for tournaments to play in please contact: Daryl Dix at 604-850-3511 daryl_dix@sd34.bc.ca Duchess Park Jr Boys Basketball is looking for torunaments to play please contact AL at aerricson@sd57.bc.ca

          Congratulations the 2013 Provincial Champions GIRLS       TEAM CHAMPION:  YORK HOUSE SCHOOL BOYS        TEAM CHAMPION:  ST GEORGE'S SCHOOL OVERALL   TEAM CHAMPION:  ST GEORGE'S SCHOOL