Krupic
Family public statement
BC School Sports
bending own rules are one main reason why British Columbia has experienced
little or no progress in High School Basketball.
As
parents of Emir Krupic who is currently and has been in previous years, a student
at Burnaby South Secondary, we want to raise public awareness about the recent injustices
that BC School Sports had made against our son Emir. That meant ruling our son
Emir, ineligible to play basketball this year for his own High School in which
negatively affected his team and the community around him specifically when he
did not break any of the rules on the BC School Sports rule-book. This awful and
unjust decision potentially took away the best shot Emir and his Burnaby South
team had at winning provincials.
When
Emir came back from his program in Seattle called Elite Sports Academy, we
followed all the guidelines seeking eligibility through BC School Sports. We
truthfully presented all documents and evidence to BC School Sports in order to
make Emir eligible and to add him to the team roster. Emir was eventually
approved by the BC School Sports coordinator Karen Hum stating that Emir was eligible
to play. Emir’s first game back was against Killarney and it was an important
qualifying round for the lower mainland tournament. Emir’s coach checked him in
the game against Killarney where he played small minutes that game, nonetheless
it would’ve been won with or without him. Burnaby South easily won that game by a large
margin. By our surprise, within 24 hours the BC School
Sports director Jordan Abney ruled Emir ineligible without a single word said
to us. The reason why was because the parents and coaches from a dozen schools in the province were complaining about Emir when they had no idea about anything he
did and only had second hand information about Emir. Burnaby South was forced
to forfeit the game which gave them a much harder path to the provincials.
Mr. Abney’s explanation was that the our
family and Burnaby South was not disclosing enough information about Elite
Sports Academy when in fact, we had gave every last bit of information needed of
everything Emir was doing down in Seattle. Not a single rule or guideline
was broken. It wouldn’t be logical anyways for the school to hide information about Emir
and risk his team.
After
this decision, we had 3 meetings with Mr. Abney in hopes to appeal this
decision, presenting him once again, all the documents that clearly show that
not one rule from the BC School Sports Handbook has been broken. Mr. Abney’s explanation
was based on the fact that Elite Sports Academy had the INTENT of prep school. We came to the realization that some of the claims Mr.
Abney about the rules made most definitely wasn’t represented and evident in
the BCSS 2018/2019 rulebook. Mr. Abney said that Elite Sports Academy was
equivalent to a prep school when that isn’t true because a true prep school has
to be registered or affiliated
with an actual school in order for it to be a proper prepatory/post
graduate school along with having a basketball program within it. A good
example of a true prep school would be Brewster Academy out of Wolfeboro, New
Hampshire, USA. Players there are enrolled full time at a school along with
having the proper and full prep experience and schedule. Basically, Mr. Abney
based his ruling off the INTENT that Elite Sports Academy had, in which deep
down everyone knows is completely unfair and clearly doesn’t make sense.
Mr. Abney’s called this a “Prep Environment” which clearly doesn’t
hold any significant value. He also stated Emir was ineligible because of the “prep
environment” and schedule he played in. This is simply ridiculous because the
schedule and games E.S.A. played should not come into play when deciding
whether or not, E.S.A. is a prep school. E.S.A. had a very open and
non-concrete schedule in which all real prep schools do have otherwise. Emir played
against teams ranging from men’s league teams to teams overseas as well as
other prep schools all in open exhibitions. It could be considered the same
thing as club basketball since club basketball also known as AAU, is very open
and has no concrete schedule when it comes to who you play because it could be
against anyone and any team. Some prep
teams play all year round even in AAU tournaments therefore there is no such thing
as a “Prep Environment” because you’re either enrolled full time at a school
playing for a prep team with a proper schedule or you aren’t. There is no in between.
Mr. Abney also falsely stated to us and to the news, that Emir was
ineligible because his “prep environment” counted towards his 13 weeks of play
when those rules clearly only apply to students who are registered and
competing for a MEMBER SCHOOL as stated in section 31.1.0. The only sanctioning rules there are in the rulebook under
section 62.0.0 is the rules ensuring that TEAMS, not
individual players, are playing
under similar conditions and ruling structures and are competing fairly against
one another, within the spirit and intent of interscholastic athletics. Mr.
Abney stated that “there’s a prep school rule”. The only prep school rule there
is only applies to players who have been at prep/elite teams REGISTERED or AFFILIATED
with actual member schools in which otherwise, our son Emir never was. Mr. Abney also said that in the rulebook it says that “if
you’ve played in a prep environment, it considered to have played for the
purposes of transfer rules therefore one is subject to transfer rules and
subject to season of play.” Once again, Mr. Abney was false claiming since is
no evidence to support his words as the only “prep school rule”, would be the
one falling under section 39.5.0.
39.5.0 STUDENT-ATHLETE TRANSFER TO PREP/ELITE SCHOOL
PROGRAMS – A student-athlete who transfers from their home school to a prep/ elite
team within or affiliated with a school, and returns to his/her home
school, or any other BCSS member school, is considered to have participated in
that sport and must seek eligibility through 40.0.0. as a transfer student.
Members of a school prep/elite team are considered to have participated in
competition of a BCSS activity.
-
BC School Sports Handbook 2018-2019
It
is very interesting that Mr. Abney has made his ruling by using the word “Intent”
which in reality, means nothing and does not apply to any of their own rules
they have written in their own book. His decision was absolutely wrong and
needs to be held accountable. There must
be a reason why this has been happening for years, not just for our son, but
for other young and talented high school basketball players who have constantly
been targeted year in and year out.
It almost may seem BC School Sports officials are heavily influenced and have close relations with the schools that make most complaints. They continue to bend their own rules and do anything they can to rule talented players ineligible as opposed to doing whatever they can to resolve issues like these and help the players out. These constant complaints against these talented players have nothing to do with opposing players as they enjoy competing against one another. But on the other hand this is the work of apprehensive parents and coaches that are afraid of competition and who don’t want to see certain kids succeed for their own schools.
It almost may seem BC School Sports officials are heavily influenced and have close relations with the schools that make most complaints. They continue to bend their own rules and do anything they can to rule talented players ineligible as opposed to doing whatever they can to resolve issues like these and help the players out. These constant complaints against these talented players have nothing to do with opposing players as they enjoy competing against one another. But on the other hand this is the work of apprehensive parents and coaches that are afraid of competition and who don’t want to see certain kids succeed for their own schools.
We
are extremely hurt and heartbroken to have seen our son go through this
stressful situation as would any parent be. However this isn’t just about our
son Emir anymore, it is about the fair and just treatment of players who may face
a similar situation in the future. BC School Sports main goal should be to help student athletes
the best they can and not look for every reason or excuse as to why they cannot
participate. That is exactly what they have been doing for many years now and
it needs to come to an end in order for our community to grow and for our young
players to progress in the basketball scene and make a name for themselves.
Sooner or later, this unjust treatment of players needs to come to an end. It
cannot continue any longer as it is hurting the progress of high school
basketball here in B.C.
Sincerly,
Melina and Nihad
Krupic
Burnaby, Canada
March 12, 2019
