‘Let’s figure it out’: Deadline draws near before Hoopla is cancelled

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The clock is ticking, and a Wednesday afternoon deadline is looming, on the most wide-reaching high school sports event in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation on Monday said it was planning a one-day strike on Wednesday and withdrawing support for extracurricular activities on Thursday and Friday. If the sanctions aren’t lifted by Wednesday at 3 p.m., that means Hoopla — the provincial high school basketball championships — will be cancelled instead of bringing hundreds of athletes and thousands of fans together in Moose Jaw.

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The STF insists the move is needed to get the province to negotiate on smaller classroom sizes and additional supports. The province has refused to negotiate those items into the collective agreement.

“It will be extremely disappointing if the two sides cannot come to an arrangement that will allow the sanctions to be lifted,” the Saskatchewan High Schools Athletic Association said in a statement.

Here are a few things to know about the job action impacting high school athletes across the province …

SMALL NUMBER, HUGE EFFECT

According to the most recent data available from Statistics Canada, in 2021-22 there were approximately 182,000 elementary and high school students in Saskatchewan.

Of that approximate number, around 750 athletes — .4 per cent of the student population in Saskatchewan — would be directly and irrevocably affected with the cancellation of Hoopla, which because of its enduring popularity, high participation and large profile is one of the biggest events on the sports and social calendar in the province.

ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY

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For many of the teens, this would be their only opportunity to compete for a provincial hoops championship.

The Preeceville girls last advanced to Hoopla in 1997 — nearly three decades ago. They qualified this year in the 2A division.

The Walter Murray girls on Friday won their first city title since 1995 to earn a spot in the 5A division at Hoopla.

The Lanigan girls, known mostly for their volleyball, have a core who have been together since Grade 3 or 4. They qualified for Hoopla this year as the No. 1 seed in the 3A division, hoping to upgrade last year’s silver medal to gold.

“To miss out on (Hoopla), especially for those in senior year, that would not be great,” said Sophie Larsen, a Grade 12 student at Murray. “For lots of girls, it’s their last year of basketball ever.”

‘A CELEBRATION OF SCHOOL SPORTS’

The SHSAA, calling playoffs “a celebration of school sports in our province,” says education in high school comes in more places than just a classroom.

“The critical life skills that student-athletes attain are accumulated through months of participation in a school sport program,” the SHSAA said in a statement. “That being said, it cannot be denied that an opportunity to participate in school sport playoffs is another means to enhance the learning opportunities of students as they develop citizenship skills in a competitive sports environment.”

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BY THE NUMBERS

According to Hoopla tournament committee chair Roger Morgan, losing Hoopla would cost the Moose Jaw community millions of dollars.

Nearly every hotel room in the city is reserved and has been for months. Around 350 volunteers are ready to go. Local restaurants have scheduled extra staff to accommodate the 48 teams with more than 700 athletes, not to mention more than 3,000 supporters.

Morgan said the SHSAA would lose upwards of $15,000. More than $6,000 spent by local groups to prepare can’t be recouped. A local merchandiser would lose out on major business by not being able to sell Hoopla clothing.

THEY SAID IT

The teachers union and the Saskatchewan government keep insisting that the other side is solely to blame.

Premier Scott Moe on Monday said he was “disappointed” in the teachers’ union “targeting” Hoopla.

“They can make a decision not to shut down and they can make a decision to come back to the bargaining table, and we respectfully would invite them to do so,” he said.

STF president Samantha Becotte said the provincial government’s “unwillingness to work with teachers in finding any path forward has forced this decision,” while acknowledging it “will impact students and communities both big and small across the province.”

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What the students collectively feel is that they are being used as pawns in a political game of chicken.

“Let me ask you: How would you feel if you gave up thousands of hours of your time and worked for years on a project and someone who claims to care about your well-being decides to take it away?” Blaire Otsig, a senior in Wynyard, wrote in a social media post.

‘LET’S FIGURE IT OUT’

When the senior Class of 2024 — those in Grade 12 this year — were in Grade 8, they spent three months in isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic at the end of their school year and didn’t get to attend a graduation or farewell ceremony. Their Grade 9 and 10 years featured either no extra curricular activities or severely modified activities. Now, in Grade 12, the biggest event of the year for many of them is hours away from being ended before it begins.

In a social media post, Ali Gillespie Kraft, the mother of a Grade 12 player at Holy Cross, urged the STF and province to listen to the voices of the teens, saying “this is who the fight is for.”

She said she supports the teachers and the need for change in the classroom, but not with “using 750 student athletes to make your point.

“Let’s figure it out for these student athletes.”

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