Kitsilano Secondary’s Junior Basketball team has been disqualified from the Vancouver City Championships.
The Grade 10 team has been removed from the tournament organized by Vancouver Secondary Schools’ Athletic Association because one of the boys on the team was deemed to be an ineligible player.
The athlete in question played with a different school last year which makes him ineligible to play this year.
According to BC School Sports Executive Director Jordan Abney, under the rules, students must sit out for a year after transferring schools.
What makes this situation different is that the transferring student athlete managed to play the entire regular basketball season before BC School Sports caught wind of the infraction and disqualified the Kits team from the championships.
“I don’t know him from any other kid, he was just one of the kids who showed up at tryouts and earned a spot on our team,” Junior Boys Coach Kenny MacIntyre recalled with CityNews of the 15-year-old when he arrived at Kitsilano Secondary.
Photo: CityNews
Last modified: February 18, 2023
It is an essential life lesson for youths that life has rules and laws to follow. The Team did not follow the rules and should, therefore, be disqualified. End of story. If parents want to complain about the Team administrators not doing their job properly, more power to the parents. Someone clearly dropped the ball here (don’t excuse the pun, as it is highly relevant), and when you snooze, you lose. I feel very sad and sorry for all the players, as it is not their fault, but it is part and parcel of Team Sport and sportsmanship. Suck it up, buttercup. And, learn from your mistakes, Team; that is the message to take away from this experience.