The decision by Prince George Secondary School to not send its Polars senior boys volleyball team to this week’s triple-A provincial championship due to the school’s concerns about a lack of available players has left players and parents feeling left out because they were not consulted.
Two weeks ago, on their home court at PGSS, the Polars swept the North Peace Grizzlies of Fort St. John in straight sets to claim the North Central zone championship, which guarantees a berth in the 16-team provincial tournament. The Polars won the zone title with only nine players, including two called up from the junior team.
They left the gym making plans for a trip to Victoria. But after a couple of days passed, after consulting with head coach Glenn Wong and school administration, PGSS athletic director Jasen Florell determined the team did not have enough healthy bodies and made the decision to decline their provincial invitation.
Florell informed BC School Sports that the Polars would not be playing in Victoria and North Peace took their place in the tournament that started Wednesday.
“There were seven players able to travel and an eighth that was going for an X-ray,” said Florell, in an email sent to team parents on Nov. 21.
“Some of these players still have lingering injuries. To travel 12-14 hours, play six-seven matches with a group that small is not feasible. Even with eight players, only one spare, it is a tall task to ask kids to play that much and not risk injury or have a great experience. There were a few local tournaments the kids played with seven and eight players and (they) were out of energy by the end of it. Provincials also includes best-of-five matches.
“Many players have tryouts for Kodiaks in a few weeks or have a basketball team to play for. We did not see the risk outweighing the benefits. A decision had to be made, we could not wait until the weekend or next week. It is too late to change the decision as I had to inform the tournament organizer and BC School Sports as soon as possible so they could try and fill the spot and so we would not incur a hefty fine.”
Darryl Anderson, whose son Hunter is a Grade 11 middle blocker for the Polars, said he’s not upset with the school’s decision to cancel the trip, but about how school officials arrived at their decision without speaking to the parents or players.
“I understand it’s a quick turnover and a quick decision had to be made but it would have been nice to be consulted on that,” said Anderson. “Had they explained that up front I might have said, ‘yeah this is the best decision that we don’t go.’ I’m not saying they made the wrong decision but a consultation would have been nice. They should have asked us too and made an attempt to get as much of our opinion as possible.”
Wong also sent a group email to inform parents of his reasons for cancelling the trip.
“As a coach, I am expecting 100 per cent peak performance from ALL of the players while playing in the round-robin and playoffs,” said Wong. “As the tournament proceeds, there is a lot of wear and tear on the body and (it) is mental test for an individual player in dealing with the highs and lows of each match. With a small roster and lingering injuries, will the players be able to appreciate the experience, good and bad?”
After playing in the zone tournament, Hunter Anderson was examined for a possible stress fracture in his leg and went for physiotherapy soon after. An X-ray Friday revealed there was no fracture.
Three days earlier, the players had been told at school their trip was cancelled.
“In fairness, the physio did have that concern, but given the low level of pain my son reporting, it’s probably going to be OK, but get an X-ray,” said Anderson. “We didn’t find out for certain until Friday.
“He wasn’t happy, and I didn’t talk to every parent, but three or four parents on the team voiced a similar concern. I’m a cautious parent and I’m not going to put my son’s body on the line for a tournament that, realistically, they wouldn’t have done great at. But I was given information from healthcare people that it was probably going to be OK.”
The Polars have just one Grade 12 player on the roster, Lannen Liu, who has been sidelined with an injury for the past month and a half. With most of the players in Grade 11, Wong provided reassurances to the team, convinced they will have good shot at repeating as zone champions next year.
One of the parents who spoke to The Citizen said he went to many tournaments in soccer and basketball with Prince George high school teams and the ones he remembers most were the provincial championships. He’s hoping his son will get a chance to play at provincials next year.
Anderson said his eldest son Deakon played volleyball for the PGSS senior boys team and was in Grade 11 when disastrous flooding in the Fraser Valley in November 2021 closed highways and the Polars’ trip to provincials was cancelled. That team also was loaded with Grade 11 players and the following season PGSS was defeated in the zone final and did not get to play in a senior provincial tournament.
“We all said ‘I guess next year’ and next year they didn’t win, they lost to a team that was substantially worse,” said Anderson. “If all the kids show up, it’s the same kids, there’s probably a good chance, but nobody knows the future.”
