This petition is on behalf of all the Interior high schools affected by a recent announcement from the BC School Sports excluding them from continuing to compete and play at BC Place for the provincial title.

On Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021 a representative from BC School Sports contacted the Vernon Panther Football Club and informed the club (please note, other high schools only got an email) that due to the flooding and rain damage to some roadways between the Interior and Lower Mainland, all Interior high school teams still eligible to participate in the junior and senior playoffs were now excluded from competing against coast teams in the provincial championship.

There are some important facts to consider as it pertains to the attached statements:

1. The excluded teams include the Vernon Panthers, Duchess Park Condors, South Kamloops Titans, Kelowna Owls, and Rutland Voodoos as all of those Interior based teams are still competing for provincial title in junior or senior AA and AAA.

2. BC School Sports decision was made before there was any opportunity for the roads to re-open or alternative arrangements to be made.

3. The teams are willing to fly and fundraise/organize air travel to any games played in the Vancouver area at their own cost.

4. The coastal teams have been awarded the right to play games in BC Place. The money used to pay rent for use of the stadium is in part from the Interior teams, who have now been denied the use of the facility they have partially paid to use.

Those players already have lost one year of competition due to COVID-19, of which we had no control of.  Now they are being denied an opportunity without trying to find a workable solution when based on the calendar provided on the BC School Sports website, there are other sports that appear to be moving ahead with provincial travel in the coming weeks.  So we are not sure why this is the case for Interior high schools.