{"id":10289,"date":"2019-05-07T14:52:55","date_gmt":"2019-05-07T17:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelaker.ca\/?p=10289"},"modified":"2019-05-07T14:52:55","modified_gmt":"2019-05-07T17:52:55","slug":"season-saved-season-to-resume-with-rugby-n-s-managing-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/?p=10289","title":{"rendered":"Season saved: season to resume with Rugby N.S. managing it"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEDFORD: <\/strong>The\n high school rugby season is back on for the remainder of the 2019 \nseason, with Rugby Nova Scotia looking after it with the support of the \nNSSAF.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a meeting May 7 in Truro, the Department of Education \nand Early Childhood Development and the Nova Scotia School Sport \nAthletic Federation (NSSAF) met to discuss the issue that saw the sport \ncanned, then back on, then on hold again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe worked together on a\n plan for student-athletes to keep playing rugby safely,\u201d said a release\n from both parties issued shortly after 2 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rugby Nova Scotia \nhas agreed to manage the rest of this rugby season, including regionals \nand provincials, with the support of NSSAF, the release said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOver\n the summer, NSSAF will work with government, Rugby Nova Scotia, medical\n experts and others on safety in sports,\u201d the release said. \u201cThe NSSAF \nand the department will also work together to review the memorandum of \nagreement over the summer on how it can work best for student-athletes \nand everyone else involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a release on May 3 Zach Churchill, \nMinister of Education and Early Childhood Development said the decision \nthe NSSAF made to abruptly end high school rugby, the NSSAF contravened \nthe terms and conditions of the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the \nDepartment of Education and Early Childhood Development in that it \nneglected to inform the department of its intent to communicate it\u2019s \ndecision on May 2, 2019., and furthermore, made the decision without \nappropriate consultation with school communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFurther, the \nprovincial Medical Officer of Health, along with other respected \nphysicians, have expressed strong concerns about the decision, and \nthey\u2019ve cited Canada-wide data,\u201d said Churchill. \u201cGiven the perspective \noffered by the province\u2019s Medical Officer of Health, I have called on \nNSSAF to reinstate rugby for all high schools immediately for the \nduration of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a memo dated May 5, the NSSAF said the issue remained unresolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny\n school playing rugby, like any other non-NSSSAF sport, is at the \ndiscretion of the principal,\u201d the memo said. \u201cThe NSSAF will provide \nupdated information as available.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the two sides finally \nsat down and met, rRugby players across metro HRM and the province are \ndisappointed and heartbroken, along with feeling blindsided by a \ndecision by the Nova Scotia School Athletic Federation (NSSAF) to can \nthe sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The players\u2014close to 100 from high schools in Metro \nHalifax and HERH in Milford\u2014gathered inside Ice Patch Hallow in the \nSunnyside Mall in Bedford in a quickly arranged rally on May 2, with a \ngoal of sending a clear message to the NSSAF that they were not happy. \nThat was clear as the players chanted \u201cLet us play! Let us play!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lockview\n High player Brooklyn Peyton, who has aspirations to play at the \nuniversity and national level, says the removal of a sport she took up \njust a year and a bit ago has left her devastated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very \ndisappointing,\u201d said Peyton, of Waverley, on her reaction to the news. \n\u201cRugby is my life. It\u2019s really changed my life, and they\u2019re taking \nfamily away from me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abby Tramble, of Fall River, said it\u2019s frustrating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSome\n of the girls are just getting into it and they\u2019re having so much fun,\u201d \nsaid Tramble. \u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking hearing this news. It\u2019s not what any \nof us expected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an internal memo, obtained by Global Halifax, \nthe NSSAF, the governing body for high school athletics, said they came \nto the decision after a \u201cthorough review of incident report data \nprovided by the School Insurance Program.\u201d In that data it showed that there\n have been 158 insurance claims as a result of soccer; 162 insurance \nclaims as a result of football; 187 claimed as a result of hockey; and \n454 claims under rugby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with CBC N.S., \nStephen Gallant, the federation\u2019s executive director, said the decision \nwas made at the organization\u2019s first board meeting of the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was not a knee-jerk reaction today. This has been an ongoing discussion for the board after last May,\u201d said Gallant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\n incident Gallant refers to from May 2018 saw a PEI student die after \nsuffering a head injury during a school rugby game at a tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, many gathered in Bedford did term the removal as a knee-jerk reaction by the NSSAF in interviews.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lydia\n Ramsay said the NSSAF should have thought of modifying the rules before\n jumping to a conclusion that canning the sport altogether was the only \noption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not fair for us girls who have worked so hard, our \ncoaches, and for the teams at the top that could make provincials, them \ntaking it away it\u2019s just horrible,\u201d said the Oakfield resident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Peyton, she is training to play at a higher level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLockview\n was what got me into liking rugby,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a gateway to get \ninto professional rugby. Now we don\u2019t have that opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parent Nathalie Wheatley, whose daughter Savannah plays with LHS, works in healthcare. She was shocked at the news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\n think for all the boys and girls in the high school league they weren\u2019t\n given an opportunity to discuss this \u2026 to come up with a better \nsolution than just removing the sport of rugby,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HERH Tigers player Raymond Hazell said the news upset them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt kind of blindsided us,\u201d said Hazell of Elmsdale. \u201cWe had no idea there was even talk of this happening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hazell said the NSSAF should have discussed their decision with those impacted before making it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\n know when we step on the field the consequences that the game can \nbring,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re fully aware of what can go on, but we still get \non the field; we still love the game; we still enjoy ourselves while \ndoing it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BEDFORD: The high school rugby season is back on for the remainder of the 2019 season, with Rugby Nova Scotia looking after it with the support of the NSSAF. At a meeting May 7 in Truro, the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Nova Scotia School Sport Athletic Federation (NSSAF) met to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10229,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12],"tags":[2,5,369,174,175],"class_list":["post-10289","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-featured","tag-fall-river","tag-lockview-high","tag-nssaf","tag-rugby","tag-rugby-n-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging-z.thelaker.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}