‘It was just so abrupt:’ High school basketball season ends due to teachers’ sanctions

It was the news high school basketball players across the province didn’t want to hear.

The provincial championship tournament, Hoopla, has been cancelled due to sanctions imposed by teachers during ongoing negotiations between the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation and the Government of Saskatchewan. The tournament was set for March 19-21 in Regina.

The Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association has also cancelled all of its regional tournaments that were scheduled for this weekend, meaning the final games of the season were played on Wednesday night.

Amy Jacobson helps coach the senior girls team at Regina Christian School. She said the coaches had to tell the athletes their season was over during practice.

“The girls were so sad. It was just so abrupt and all of a sudden their season was done in the middle of practice,” Jacobson said Wednesday. “We just stopped practice and just huddled around and told memories of the season because there was nothing left to do.”

Jacobson said the Grade 12 students were most shaken up over the news the season was ending prematurely.

“Their whole high school basketball experience is just done. There’s no closure to it,” Jacobson said.

In Regina, the Harvest City Reapers defeated the Regina Christian School Grizzlies 89-43 to win the senior boys White Division city championship at Thom Collegiate on Wednesday. Afterwards, Harvest City defeated the Sheldon-Williams Spartans 90-27 to win the girls White Division city title.

Both were the final Regina Intercollegiate Basketball League games played in Regina this season.

Luis Simon’s son Isaac is a Grade 10 student who plays point guard for Harvest City. Luis said it’s disappointing because the team was one of the top-ranked teams in the 2A division.

“I think what’s worse is I feel bad for the kids that are in Grade 12. Whether it’s small school, city school (or) country school, they don’t have that opportunity (to play for a provincial title),” Simon said. “It’s bad and I feel that in some ways that the kids were used as a bunch of different pawns so I feel bad for the kids.

“I think (the students) are caught in the middle of something. It’s all about the kids. It doesn’t matter whether it’s volunteer work or whether it’s your job. It’s just a tough situation.”

With the sanctions in place meaning no extracurricular activities will take place, Harvest City Grade 12 student Jonathan Dela Pena has seen his high school basketball career come to an end.

“We were hoping to go to Hoopla, but that stuff didn’t come to plan,” Dela Pena said after his team’s win. “We’re kind of bummed because last year we got bronze (at Hoopla) so we wanted to win this won.”

Hundreds of high school athletes went to the Legislative Building on Wednesday to voice their displeasure about the possibility their seasons could be over.