As you may know, OFSAA recently decided to cancel rather than postpone their Winter Championship. The following sports are affected: alpine skiing, nordic skiing, snowboarding, basketball, volleyball, hockey and curling.

OFSAA (Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations) is a federation of 18 regional associations comprised of 840 schools across the province.

This will be the third consecutive cancellation of the Winter Championship which means an entire cohort of Ontario high school students has missed the opportunity to compete at the provincial level. The mental health of our students has been severely impacted by the lack of organized sport and this decision will only add to the distress. Following the lead of the OFSAA executive no less than 3 regional associations have cancelled their championships.  At this rate, High School winter sports will be cancelled entirely.

In light of:

• The easing of public health restrictions
• The return of minor league sports
• The imminent return of high school sports
• The Chief Medical Officer of Health urging Ontarians to "learn to live with COVID"
• OFSAA's own mission Statement "To foster student success and enrich education through school sport"

we call on the OFSAA executive to reverse their decision and allow all students to compete at the highest level possible.