Brantford Expositor: Student Athletes Brace For Early End to Seasons

Article By:  Darryl G. Smart

As tipoff fast approached at Pauline Johnson Collegiate for the opening game of the Brant County senior boys basketball season Tuesday, the Thunderbirds gathered underneath the hoop for a team picture.

That's something that is usually reserved for the end of the season.

But with a cloud of uncertainty hovering over high school sports, a team picture on the first day of the season may be the only thing the Thunderbirds will have to remember a season that may be wiped out.

On Monday - and after only two high school basketball games - public high school teachers will step up their job action with a full withdrawal from extracurricular activities.

The Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation has announced that its 60,000 members will show up for work 15 minutes before their scheduled start time and leave immediately after their scheduled duties are finished.

OSSTF provincial executive officer Leslie Wolfe said teachers who volunteer their time for after-school sports teams and clubs have told students that those activities will cease.

"Our members love these activities," Wolfe said. "They don't give them up lightly and with ease."

And that's something the student athletes understand.

"I know our team is very disappointed," Thunderbirds' Dakota Brush said.

"But we all realize that, if it weren't for the teachers, we wouldn't have school sports to begin with.

"They obviously have something that they believe is worth fighting for, so we have to support them. I know, personally, I do. It sucks that we can't play sports and do extra-curricular activities, but they need to do what they need to do."

Brush, who is in his fifth year at PJC, said this year's senior basketball team is the best one that he's been on.

"I'm excited and so is everyone else about this year," Brush said.
"Hopefully, it will get resolved. It would be great playing more than two games in my last year."

Meantime, the boys hockey season is in full swing. Despite a three-game losing streak, Cam Capel has seen the progress his Paris Panthers have made in a couple of weeks. And he hopes to see what they could do down the stretch drive.

That's if there is a stretch drive.

"You're partway through the season and you're done basically," Capel said. "It's just unfortunate. We have a ton of potential on this team. It would be great to see what we can do.

"School's a lot more than just going to four periods of class a day," he said. "It's a shame it has to happen, but at the same token, I think we all understand the situation."

And for Capel, it hits close to home because his mother teaches and coaches at Paris District High School.

"It's tough. My mom likes to coach, and now she doesn't get to. So, I understand," Capel said.

"It would be great if none of this happened, but I really believe all of the guys on the team, and a lot of people at school, understand what's happening.

"We realize how important teachers are. So, we have to stand behind them, even if it's at the expense of something that means a lot to us."

Retrieved From:  http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2012/12/05/student-athletes-brace-for-early-end-to-seasons