BOYCOTT ST. MARY'S SENIOR GIRLS BASKETBALL TEAM

There has been alot of talk this week from teams in the area of BOYCOTTING ST. MARY'S Senior Team because of what has been going on with the tryouts at that school and who has made the team.

A petition is being circulated and here is the summary of the message that is circulating.

1. NEDA players who are out of the region are playing on the team. They made the team without even trying out and they come in from GUELPH. Players are supposed to play within their district and LIVE in the district of their school -- at least Hamilton!

2. WESLOWSKI displaced the entire Junior team who have played for Mary's for 2 years since grade 9. All of these girls were cut and now do not have a place to play. Why - he is taking NEDA players, 4 - Grade 10's, including a new transfer who never tried out!

3. WESLOWSKI has his Transway team playing and now has brought in his assistant coach Nate McGibbon. What happend to Jessie Lamparski - a coach the girls respect

4. 4 Grade 10's --- why don't they play JUNIOR!

5. He tells the girls he cuts - "it's not political"

6. One of the girls he cuts - was just scouted a Division 1 University prospect for Villanova University. It's on this message board! She get's cut! How political is that!

7. Weslowski holds secret practices over the summer and invites - guess who - the girls who are now on the Sr. Team at Mary's

The petition has already over 100 names on it from all over the city.... looks like this is a very clear message to the Catholic School Board!

- clean up the tryout process and make it a fair evalation
- NEDA girls should not be allowed to play outside their region
- Grade 10's should play Junior - in all schools!
- all girls must tryout to be placed on a team
- previous girls who made the Sr. Team should not automatically have their place held if they are clearly outrun, out shot during tryout process
- the fair evaluation group making the cuts - should base it on player skill - not political !

Politics has no place in sport - but it is prevalent as poison in St. Mary's.

If everything stated above is true then I am in agreement with it all except for

"- Grade 10's should play Junior - in all schools!"

If the player is good enough to play senior, then there is no point in that player wasting a year dominating players of lesser talent. It is common place in many sports to allow players with exceptional talent to play up a year level or two.

Back to the post, sounds like St. Mary's is on its way to becoming a "prep" school for girls basketball.

I don't know anything about this situation, but am very uncomfortable with the attack on the former NEDA players. These girls have been in attendance at St. Mary's while playing NEDA so it is not like they are parachuting in. The fact that they may want to continue at the high school they have been attending seems very natural and understandable. It is not their fault that the NEDA program was ended and why would anyone object to them playing for the school they have been attending. The fact that Coach Wesolowski has a proven track record also makes their desire to play for him understandable. Remember these girls were already at St. Mary's so it is not like they were recruited.

This smells more like a parent with a grudge about who made the team and who didn't. The fact that a comment like "all grade 10's should play junior" was made is another strong indicator that someone wants to influence the way the team is selected for their own benefit.
The coach may be looking at the future by keeping some grade 10 players.

It's pretty sad that someone whose kid may not have made a high school team has to resort to publicly attacking a coach with a proven track record.

Everybody knows NEDA girls were recruited from across the country. If NEDA folds, its time for the girls to pack up and GO HOME!!

If a kid is a great player in grade 10, they should play senior. Too bad if your kid is displaced...don't like it? go to another school then...how about Cardinal Newman.

If former NEDA players do decide to stay in Hamilton, where are they living? And who pays for this? Would these girls parents really give up legal guardianship? I don't think so. Isn't that the only way OFSAA would allow this anyways?
The only fair and just thing to do is to split them up equally amongst the Catholic and Public schools. This way everyone has an fair playing field. But St. Mary's wouldn't do that because they like to work it to their advantage...to hell with everyone else.

If Lamparski and Weslowski are such great coaches then they can go build a program at any school like Highland or Delta or even Cathedral or Newman. Let them earn it instead of having it all fall in their lap, ready made.

The reality is that OFSSA rules cannot be enforced therefore they are non existent. To compete at the upper levels of basketball in Ontario requires one to embrace the previous statement otherwise you are naive and will be disappointed. At these levels, players will be recruited and swayed to change schools. Yes, there will be cuts and players will be discarded....just like rep bball, rep soccer, or rep hockey. OFSSA's vision of what high school athletics should be does not correspond to the reality. I find that what St. Mary's
is doing is congruent with the reality that is high school basketball. If you disagree you went into this situation blind.

We need to remember that this is high school basketball. Not REP (and the boundaries of this conflict of interest should not be crossed), Not an Ontario Team, Not a Canadian Team. NEDA players never played for St. Mary's prior to that league forming. They dont live in the area - and they need to return to the school from which they came.

The rules of transfer should apply - girls were sitting out in Junior last year because they transferred in Grade 9 from Westdale. How can these girls (and I group them with the one Grade 10 that did not tryout) be allowed to play?

Yes, disappointment - that the entire JUNIOR team should have a spot to play for a school that they are attending. These girls played grade 9 and grade 10.
I WILL sign the petition that is circulating! Maybe - these group of girls could get support as there is more that needs fixing with sports in the schools. This impacts all schools!

I certainly sympathize with those parents and players who have a gripe, and it’s very regrettable that this situation has gotten so ugly.

However, those former NEDA players deserve some consideration also., and I don’t think it’s fair to just tell them to go home. They were not recruited by St. Mary’s but have been in attendance at the school for a year or longer. That means they have built relationships with staff and students, gained a level of familiarity and comfort with the school and its programs, and may have reasons beyond basketball for wanting to continue at the school they have been attending.

They did not play high school basketball while part of the NEDA program, so it’s obvious nobody minded their attendance at St. Mary’s as long as they couldn’t play. But now that they can play, there is this reaction from interested parties looking out for themselves. That strikes me as hypocritical. I do sympathize, but if those former NEDA players are better than others who thought they could make the team, that is just a consequence of having to compete for a spot.

Those families have their own interests to consider also and have to make choices that will benefit those students. All of the former NEDA players have already had to go through one major transition when they joined the program and I can certainly understand not wanting to go through another. For anyone who says "Go Home", try putting yourself in their shoes if that's possible.

Before dumping on the coach too much, ask if any coach would refuse to consider elite players that wanted to try-out for the team. It is not like this circumstance was planned by anyone.

Those girls are students in good standing just as much as anyone else and should be entitled to continue their education in the environment that their family decides is best for them. For some members of the St. Mary’s community to try to tell them they are no longer welcome to be part of that community for reasons of personal gain is something I can’t support.

Fairness is something that must be applied equally to all, and not just to those who want to dictate to others what the concept means to serve their own agenda.

There really are two sides to this one. Both have solid points but in the end, pleasing 3 or 4 players at Mary's shouldn't take the basketball community as a whole. Is it unfair, to ask kids to return home to their home areas? Probably. However, leaving those kids there would ruin the entire Hamilton system for every other team who is going to get destroyed every game. Further more, the province as a whole will look at this and question whether or not OFSAA is even worth a shot. There is no perfect answer here, but it has to make sense that the benefits of a few shouldn't trump the well being of high school basketball as a whole. It no secret Rich works hard and is a proven winner, but you would have to think this is even a little over the top for him. Will this even be a challenge for him? I'm pretty sure anyone could take OFSAA with that group of kids working together. The battle for the silver could be interesting though.

If there is an abundance of talent at St. Mary's, they should field 2 senior girls teams!

In response to what William has posted, the NEDA program being stopped was unfortunate for those girls in the program. Going into the NEDA program was a huge committment for the parents and players, HOWEVER,I also believe that being a part of the program came with risks. There was likely never a guarantee that this program would last. You argue that these kids have adapted to the school and teachers etc, but they had to adapt to come here in the first place, being away from home, their parents etc. If they don't live in the region, it really is a stretch for them to play. I feel for the kids that have been going to Mary's and are now being cut, it's very unfortunate and if I were a parent I would be livid. I believe this team will crush every team. What about teams that are weak to begin with like Cathedral, ACMT, what a shame that these teams will have to compete against essentially a provincial level team.

At the end of the day I don't think anything will be done and the team will be set the way it is. It will certainly bring lots of fans in the stands for good and bad.