The Editor,
Re. "School's out but football's on - union head not happy" (The Tri-City News, Sept. 3).
As a teacher, I am not a proponent of the BCTF but I must adhere to the union's goals and directions whether or not they are my own.
As a special education teacher of 33 years, I fully understand what the union is attempting to achieve. As a high school football coach, I am torn and thoroughly upset that my team is not practising while others are. I have no choice. Burnaby School District has informed me that we are not allowed to practise on the field behind our school (the fact that our helmets are locked up in the school is secondary).
My worry is that certain schools will continue to practise and play games while many of us will be forced to stand on the sidelines. This causes issues with our players, who are questioning our integrity because we will not or cannot practise.
How am I to convince those players that although this is not fair, we are in the right? If/when the strike is over, how can I have my team play another team that may have practised and played for weeks, and ensure the parents that their sons will be safe? I can't. They won't be safe.
The BC Secondary Schools Football Association has spent that last few years making sure that we understand concussions; have medical staff on the field; teach heads-up tackling, etc. yet it allows this inequity to exist and places many players at risk.
At present, I am working as an adjunct teaching professor/faculty advisor for UBC. I work with teacher candidates and help them understand the complexities of being a teacher. One of the standards teachers profess to follow is this: "Educators value and care for all students and act in their best interests." How can this be if we are placing football players at risk? There is another one: "Educators are role models who act ethically and honestly." By letting players continue to practise and/or play, coaches are reinforcing that old, tiresome "jock" attitude of "I'm a football player, I'm special."
People may dislike this strike and so do so may of us in the system. It isn't easy to look in the eyes of a player and tell him that, although it is unfair that some coaches are not adhering to the standards they are supposed to adhere to, I am, and sometimes being right sucks.
Jim Stockman, Coquitlam
