Last weekend, the Grand Forks Secondary School girls soccer team should have gone on to compete at the provincial level after a successful season. However the team was disqualified on a technicality: the team had two younger players, needed to fill the roster and make sure the team had spare players in the event of an injury. Being both in Grade 7 and from another school, those students were not eligible to play for the team.
B.C. School Sports, the governing body, has said that it is in the best interest of younger students and competing schools that teams are composed of only qualifying students, both of the right age and playing for the right school. Parents, meanwhile, argue that B.C. School Sports is not recognizing the challenges of rural schools.
It is deeply unfortunate that the team was not allowed to compete on the provincial stage. Regardless of that unfortunate consequence, the GFSS girls soccer team should know: we’re proud of them, provincials or not, and we’re rooting for you - if not this year, then next year.