It's all about leadership. In this case, an exhibited lack of it.
Thursday's announcement that the University of Northern British Columbia has been denied passage to the next level of interuniversity sports should come as little surprise to those who have monitored UNBC's approach to athletics.
The Canada West Universities Athletic Association, which looks after the western-most wing of Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), decided on Thursday the school on the hill did not meet the criteria to be welcomed into the same arena as UBC, UVic, Thompson Rivers University, University of the Fraser Valley and UBC-Okanagan, the latter gaining entry at the meetings in Victoria by surpassing the threshold of at least 75 per cent of the vote. UBC-O is now a probationary member for the next three years, assuming final acceptance at the CIS AGM next month in Quebec.
UNBC and Nanaimo-based Vancouver Island University did not make the grade.
UNBC brought a lot of positives to the table -- led by a fantastic facility in the Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre. In addition, UNBC's basketball teams have proven to be a winner on the court with a combined three trips to nationals -- one by the women's team and two by the men -- and the school did an exemplary job of playing host to the 2009 men's Canadian championship.
There is also strong community support that, contrasted with attendance at games hosted by current CIS schools, means on those Friday or Saturday nights when the Northern Timberwolves are on their home court the Northern Sport Centre has more paying customers than as many as five CIS games combined.
Yet UNBC's offering was not strong enough to earn the required votes.
Certainly, some natural obstacles worked against UNBC, and they came to light in documents unearthed by The Citizen last year when UNBC's application was tabled for consideration this year. Geography, the city's constant anchor, and concerns about having qualified on-court officials were legitimate issues the voters would have to look past in order to accept UNBC. And they very well could have, except for one thing -- the glaring problem with leadership at UNBC was too much to swallow.
Sandy Slavin, president of Canada West, confirmed Thursday the long-vacant athletic director position played a role in the vote.
UNBC has been without an athletics director since the first hours of last September, when Len McNamara was terminated without cause and later paid a severance of $120,000. It's a full eight months, and going on nine, since the department had a leader, and there are still valid questions in the public why McNamara was fired in the first place. After all, not only was he respected in the community and well-known in the corporate circles, which is required to lead a program like UNBC athletics, he had strong employment evaluations based on leading UNBC's successful basketball program, and emerging varsity soccer teams. McNamara also played a key role in helping shepherd the construction of the Northern Sport Centre which bears the former president's name.
In the end, it's left to speculate that McNamara was dismissed early into Dr. George Iwama's tenure as president simply because of a personality conflict with senior management -- and senior management that may not even remain at the school. It has to be asked if it is another part of the legacy of secrecy that was evident with then-president Don Cozzetto leaving abruptly in the summer of 2008.
Adding to the question of leadership is the fact UNBC is rushing to hire a head basketball coach to replace Mike Raimbault, who accepted a position with the University of Winnipeg (a CIS school), while the athletic director position remains vacant. McNamara hired Raimbault after Zane Robison stepped down to take a position outside the athletics department, yet Robison was at Iwama's side representing UNBC's proposal for CIS acceptance.
There is a divide up on the hill, one in which some on the academic side have disdain for UNBC's publicly-stated interest in athletics. The publicity and recruiting opportunities tied to athletics hold no appeal to some at UNBC, and because of that there are T-wolves supporters who believe there were factions within the faculty which actually celebrated Thursday's denial.
The end result is the $10,000 CIS application fee is down the drain -- and that cost doesn't account for the extensive amount of time contributed by well-paid staff. UNBC's athletics program remains at a second-tier level, despite playing in a first-rate facility, with first-rate community support.
Before UNBC can even think about applying again, it needs to get its house in order. The end result should send UNBC's governing body back to the blackboard.
