Sports persevere through strike

While all school and extra-curricular activities remain dark in the province due to the on-going teachers strike, some high school sports are finding a way to carry on.

Several fall sports including football, volleyball, boys soccer, field hockey, cross country and aquatics were all scheduled to begin at the start of the school year.

In the Central Okanagan, high school football teams at Rutland, KSS and Mount Boucherie are continuing to practice and play under the eye of volunteer coaches.

No teachers are involved.

Bob Chamberlain is a volunteer coach for the KSS owls. He said the biggest thing he's noticed is the whole program just isn't as intense as it used to be. 

"Typically in regular season they leave school and go to practice, so they've been focused all day. Now coming from home, we've been having to fire them up," he said. "I don't think they're as focused as they have been in the past.

Also, fewer students are showing up for practice and games, which Owls' wide receiver Ryan Samuelson blames on not seeing one another in class.

"The strike took a lot of people out of going to football because at school you see your friends and you go out. Not able to do that now," he said. "There would be at least 5 to 10 more guys out if the strike wasn't on."

"It would be nice if they got something settled and took us out of the middle of it."

Both Mount Boucherie and KSS traveled to the coast last weekend for scheduled exhibition games.

This past Friday saw the first games of the held at the Apple Bowl.

Jay Fujimura is a football coach and ​teacher from Abbotsford Senior Secondary. His boys travelled to Kelowna to play the KSS Owls and says the support from the community has played a huge role in being able to keep running the team.

"I'm doing it because when I got to this school I worked with them (players in grade 12) from the beginning and they've worked hard to get to this point. It wouldn't be fair for them not to get an opportunity in their last year to be able to play football," he said. 

"High school is often more than just classroom and classes and courses," he said. "It's memories, friendships, just being part of something, part of a community, a team, a bunch of guys that care about you. Maybe you get washed out in school but on the football team you help support and you mean something." 

BC School Sports, which oversees all high school sports in the province, issued a statement earlier this week saying they are proceeding with the planned fall zone and championship schedules in all sports.

However, in order to participate, teams are required to receive permission from their respective schools and school districts.

School districts in Surrey and Prince George have both shut down their athletic programs.

One coach told Castanet it was a tough decision, saying while they support the teachers, they also support the kids, which is why they got into coaching in the first place.

Other sports programs are also continuing at some, but not all district schools.

"I am aware of a bit of volleyball, a bit of soccer and field hockey - those are typical fall sports," says Gloster.

"In a few cases there are teachers who have decided that this is a voluntary activity, it's not part of their teaching duty and they are carrying on with some coaching. In most cases, it's parents and community members who are choosing to support those teams and keep those kids engaged."