*Update*

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who has shown support, expressed gratitude, and given attention to this important issue impacting youth football players in our community.

Over the past week, I've gained greater clarity on the root of the issue. At its core is the BC School Sports (BCSS) policy on "Recruiting", outlined in Section 421.0 of the BCSS handbook.

Link: https://simplebooklet.com/202425bcsshandbook#page=57

I encourage everyone to read this section carefully. You will see how easily this rule can be unintentionally violated - even simply by just discussing high school options related to football and transfers. This is the basis for my current ineligibility to volunteer.

While this rule may make sense in regions where sports and football in particular are successfully running in every school, it does not however make sense in Greater Victoria. 

There are only three high schools with football programs in our region. Under current BCSS guidelines, with academics taking priority over athletics, a student must reside within the catchment of one of these schools and already plan to attend in order to be accepted. 

The rule states that students cannot attend a school specifically to participate in a sport. This means any student transferring to Mt. Doug, Belmont, or Spectrum for football is technically in violation of BCSS policy.

Spectrum has chosen as of this year not to break this rule - rightfully so, given the potential consequences. However, this results in a significant and ongoing imbalance in player experience between schools, and the issue will only worsen if left unaddressed.

This rule does not appear to be fair and viable for a region with so little high school football options and no community options for this same age. However rather than challenge this rule, school administrators and coaches across the region appear to be quietly bypassing it without initiating any formal process for change. This raises concerns about equity, fairness, and transparency in high school football. 

This BCSS rule needs to be thoughtfully questioned, challenged, and modified. 

I have been advised that changing BCSS rules can take upwards of 4–5 years, and even if this rule were to be revised, it still would not solve accessibility issues for students attending private schools or French immersion programs. 

That leads us to discussion regarding BCSS Rule 840.0 - a rule permitting school partnerships between schools for team participation. This could have been an option, however under this rule teams formed through partnerships are ineligible to compete in championships, making it an unappealing solution.

Until BCSS and school administrators are willing to come together to review and revise these outdated and limiting rules, I believe the most immediate and effective path forward is to create a new community football association for Bantam and Midget-aged players.

I proposed this idea to existing associations earlier this year but was unfortunately turned down.

A new program would allow all youth of this age to participate! Regardless of where they live, which school they attend, and what catchment they are in. From Sooke to Sidney, these youth would have the opportunity to play. Players in French immersion programs, private school, and/or any public school, making football accessible to all!

Of course, launching a new association comes with challenges: funding for gear, equipment, field rentals, promotion, etc. Also searching out field availability. 

Even with these potential challenges I am committed to making this work! For the many kids who are currently at risk of being displaced and/or forced to quit the sport due to these barriers.

Call to Action:

If you or a business/organization is interested in helping bring a new community Bantam/Midget football association to life, please reach out.

This is a meaningful opportunity to support local youth, promote active living, and give back through the power of sport and love of football!

Please contact:
  bantammidgetvictoria@gmail.com
  250-882-1251

Thank you for taking the time to read and engage. Let’s work together to keep these kids on the field! 

*END OF UPDATE*

 

Note: This letter plus a private petition was sent out to school districts, school administration, and BC School Sports. Upon receiving the letter, the parent volunteer who created it was subsequently and immediately relieved of their volunteer duties. Duties that directly support a struggling high school football team. School administrators and people in power are trying to silence these issues and are attempting to terminate this petition. 

We are asking for your support on this important matter. Please sign if you agree.

 

Letter:

The future of the sport of football in Victoria is in jeopardy due to the limited amount of high schools offering football programs (only three: Belmont, Mt Doug, Spectrum) and the extreme catchment barriers that accompany. There is currently no community league option for football players of high school age, leaving high school football the only option after aging out of Junior Bantam (grade 8).

We are asking for a solution to this issue. Solutions can include but not limited to:

• Associate-player status for players in schools without football and partnership between football schools/non football schools.
• Shared catchment model with a standardized and timely transfer process aligned with Spring training.

Both Belmont and Spectrum are unfortunately over capacity, however Belmont has been able to make exceptions to let out of catchment football players in, limited to players who still reside in SD62 - Langford and Sooke. 

These exceptions have proven difficult to obtain, and last year was especially difficult and delayed:

• Approximately 10 community football players (most from the community team Westshore Warriors) who were aging out of Junior Bantam, do not live in Belmont’s catchment (but still in Langford/Sooke), applied to transfer to Belmont for the sole purpose of continuing football.
• They applied during the transfer week in February.
• They did not get accepted into Belmont until late May/ early June, which was well into the football program’s Spring training. 
• Instead of being able to train with their future team, these players had to watch from outside of the field until the school decided to accept their transfer requests, losing valuable training time.

Spectrum is not accepting any out of catchment transfers for football. It has proven not to matter if the student would like to continue football from playing in community league, lives closer to Spectrum than Mt Doug, and/or lives in the same district - SD61. 

Why is there a difference with catchment barriers between Belmont and Spectrum? Why are out of catchment football players being allowed to transfer to Belmont, but Spectrum is not allowing it? This is a tremendous injustice.

Because Spectrum is opposed to allowing football players in, this has caused repercussions:

• The Junior Varsity team had to fold this season due to lack of players. 
• The Varsity team currently operates with under 30 players.
• Said Varsity team has had to include Grade 9/10 Junior Varsity players that were left team less. 
• These Grade 9/10 players have been robbed of their Junior Varsity experience and are now subjected to playing against Grade 11/12 aged players. A four-year age gap can prove to be quite the difference physically and in football knowledge and experience. 
• The lack of players has also contributed to a lack of funding - leaving the future of the program uncertain. 

The hockey academy at Spectrum is able to accept SD61 out of catchment players in with no issues - can we not have an equal opportunity in at getting our football team up to a successful and competitive level? It seems failure of this program is imminent without some grace and support regarding this issue.

This lack of support for program development and player growth is especially worrying since Spectrum is supposed to be having a multi-million-dollar field built in the near future. Wouldn’t it make the most sense to have successful school teams to use it?

Catchment barriers are causing unnecessary stress for players, families, and volunteer coaches. They are leaving talented football players with no option to continue their valued sport and are preventing other high school athletes from the opportunity to play football. There are currently multiple students who live in SD61, outside of Spectrum’s catchment, who are experienced football players aging out of JB and would like to attend Spectrum to play football. The addition of these players would help the program immensely and field both Junior and Senior teams as needed. There are also currently approximately 10 players again this year on the Westshore Warriors, who will be aging out of JB after Spring, and do not live in one of the three football school catchments, displacing them. 

Youth sports and football in particular is an important addition to a teenager’s life. You can even argue that it is crucial for proper development and mental health. At a time when crime, drug use, violence, and gang activity is so high in our city, sports give our youth a purpose and keep them determined, committed, disciplined, and occupied. Highschool football specifically requires 2+ hours of practice after school hours each day along with a game once a week lasting 4+ hours including warm up. The commitment it takes to excel in this sport is unmatched and many football players pick this sport to stick with as it would be difficult to schedule other sports with it. 

Some of these players have been playing from the age of 8 years old (Atom league). The Spartans community football association currently has a very successful Peewee team - how are these players going to be able to continue playing past JB if they do not live in a football school catchment? Are football players supposed to quit football if they do not live in one of these three catchments? 

While there is no quick fix, what we are asking for is that some attention be given to this matter and consideration given to out of the box thinking to solve this problem. Ideas like allowing students at schools with no football to be able to play on another school’s football team.

This option would help with over capacity issues and ensure that players/families do not have to choose between their preferred education and chosen sport. 

For example, each school with football here has approximately two high schools with a French immersion program near by:

• Belmont has French immersion schools: Royal Bay and Edward Milne.
• Spectrum has French immersion schools: Reynolds and Esquimalt.
• Mt Doug has French immersion schools: Oak Bay and Vic High. 

Multiple football playing students have been learning in this French immersion program since Kindergarten. Same with football players receiving private school education. Having students at schools such as French immersion/ private schools able to play for close by school teams would ensure them able to continue pursuing their Double Dogwood and/or private education and still play football.

Having agreements and partnerships between high schools can help to solve this problem. This solution is listed in the BCSS handbook, section 840.0 pg 97.

We are hoping change can be implemented to help ensure these kids can still play, mitigate Spectrum’s newly restarted program’s struggles, and the difficulties for Belmont’s well-established program too. Both wildly different programs, at different stages, with a common issue. 

We are not asking for special treatment, rather simply an equal opportunity for high school football players and ensuring the success of football in Victoria for the future. 

Our children deserve better and should not have these barriers in place of them playing their chosen sport which is a positive addition to their lives and sometimes future. They just want to be able to play football.

We are willing to form a small working group including parents, coaches, and hopefully representatives from the school districts and governing bodies such as BCHSFB/ BCSS to figure out a solution with an implementation plan before transfer week in February 2026. 

Thank you for your care and attention.