Arwen, Jason and Marek Smith are satisfied following SD68 adjusting its temporary non-essential travel ban. (Ian Holmes/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By Ian Holmes

reversed course

High school football, soccer team given travel ban exemption for provincials from SD68

Nov 24, 2021 | 12:25 PM

NANAIMO — Emotions switched from outrage to elation for those involved with John Barsby Community School’s football programs.

The junior and senior varsity AA football teams were informed this week they wouldn’t be attending provincial tournaments in Vancouver this weekend due to a temporary fuel shortage across southern B.C.

Players and their parents rallied outside the district’s administration building on Wakesiah Ave. on Wednesday, Nov. 24 voicing their disappointment and to demand exemptions.

In the end, district 68 Supt. Scott Saywell stepped outside to tell the crowd what they wanted to hear.

“Other districts perhaps interpreted what non-essential is differently and so we’ve made an exception for teams playing in a provincial tournament, Saywell told NanaimoNewsNOW, who added he didn’t feel it was fair to sideline Nanaimo’s teams.

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SD 68 implemented additional, temporary travel restrictions on Monday, Nov. 22, which Saywell said aligned with directives from the education ministry to halt non-essential trips like field trips and sporting events.

“Albeit I’ll say I think we were doing the right thing by canceling the trips, in the end I couldn’t punish our kids for perhaps doing the right thing,” Saywell said.

Potentially having the towel thrown in on another successful John Barsby Bulldogs senior football season would have profoundly impacted Jason Smith and his children Marek and Arwen.

The eleventh and twelfth graders respectively can now suit up in the Subway Bowl coastal final match-up on Saturday at BC Place Stadium versus Robert Bateman Secondary of Abbotsford.

“They work hard all year to achieve a goal as a team and to not see it realized, or at least not have the opportunity, I think would have been devastating for the program, not just my kids,” Smith said.

His son Marek, a towering 6’6” right tackle and defensive tackle, said their upcoming game is particularly meaningful since last year’s provincial tournament was cancelled by the pandemic.

“I care a lot about my football and I do want to play after school and this would be a good chance to actually be able to play in front of a lot of people and scouts.”

Arwen Smith, the first female player in the history of John Barsby’s football program, said she and her teammates and coaches were devastated to originally hear the plug had been pulled on their season.

“We worked so hard to get this close to championships and to get it cut short would be not a good thing at all,” she said.

The NDSS senior boys soccer team was also told it can attend its AAA provincial tournament in Burnaby scheduled to begin Thursday, Nov 25.

Multiple other SD68 sports clubs have been informed they too are now permitted to attend pending tournaments.

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