Tag: cross-country

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Senior Tigers Update: October 17, 2019

THE TIGERS BUSIEST WEEK OF THE ENTIRE YEAR!

Good luck to our teams this week as we embark on the busiest weekend of the entire school year!

  • Senior Volleyball at Western Canadian Independent Schools Championships (WCISVC) at Rundle College in Calgary, Alberta.
  • Junior Volleyball at ISA Championships hosted by St Michaels University School (SMUS) in Victoria.
  • Grade 8 Volleyball ISA Championships hosted by Southpointe Academy in Tsawwassen.
  • Varsity Field Hockey at ISA Championships hosted by Crofton House.
  • Senior Field Hockey at ISA Tournament hosted by Shawnigan Lake School.
  • Junior Field Hockey at ISA Championships hosted by Shawnigan Lake School.
  • Cross-Country Team and Swim Team prepare for zone championships coming up next week.

Go Tigers!

IMPORTANT MESSAGE ABOUT RECRUITING AND ATHLETICS

The subject of “recruitment” for athletes is top of mind these days among all schools in BC. 

In the context of BC high school sports, recruiting is simply not allowed. 

BC School Sports (BCSS) is the governing body of high school sports (Grade 8-12) in BC and they have clear rules around student eligibility and recruiting.

Recruiting has never been allowed. However, last March, BCSS outlined new terms and definitions of recruiting. As a result of these new broader guidelines, schools all over BC have changed some of their practices. For example, schools will not use photos of teams/athletes with BCSS championship banners on public websites or in marketing material. Photos like this may appear in internal blogs and news bulletins for the school community but not in our advertising.

All schools in BC essentially recruit students. Vancouver is awash with many schools that all promote their programs to attract students. Independent schools all promote their school and programs to attract students. While this is allowed, using athletics or enticement from a school to attend for athletic purposes is not allowed. As a result, it is important that YHS staff, coaches, players, and parents understand just how broad the new guidelines around recruiting are. Please see the BCSS Recruiting Definition.

BC School Sports also enforce rules that restrict student transfers after Grade 9.

Students attend any school they want in Grade 8 and they are allowed to freely transfer schools any time before the start of Grade 9. If a student transfers after the start of Grade 9, they must meet very specific criteria in order to be eligible to play or else they must sit out 12 months before becoming eligible to compete. These rules are not new. Back in the 1990s, when Steve Nash transferred to St Michaels University School (SMUS), he sat out 12 months before he was eligible to play basketball for SMUS.

Schools with excellent programs attract student-athletes. Having an excellent program and attracting student-athletes is not recruiting. Parents and students are free to seek out the best school for their child. However, the school must not play a role in enticing or pressuring students to attend. 

York House has enjoyed tremendous success in many sports over the past 20 years and has, no doubt, attracted students as a result of our success and reputation. Many excellent athletes have chosen to attend YHS. However, York House has never actively recruited students for the purpose of athletics.

If you have any questions regarding this please do let me know.

David Prissinotti
Senior Athletics Director

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Senior Tigers Update: October 10, 2019

SENIOR VOLLEYBALL PLACE 4TH OUT OF 40 AT DOUGLAS COLLEGE TOURNAMENT
Our Senior Volleyball Team placed 4th out of 40 teams at the Douglas College Tournament on October 4-5. While our Tigers season started a little slow, last week YHS defeated West Point Grey Academy 3 sets to 2, Notre Dame 3 sets to 1, St Thomas More 3 sets to 1 and then went on to have a great tournament. This week, YHS defeated Crofton House 3 sets to 1 raising their league record to 4 wins and 2 losses. Our Tigers are currently in first place in our Lower Mainland Independent School league and ranked 6th in BC among all ‘AA’ sized schools. We expect that ranking to move up next week.

Next week, our Senior Tigers travel to Rundle College in Calgary for the Western Canadian Independent Schools Volleyball Championships (WCISVC). YHS has attended this event every year since 1972 and YHS will be the host location for the 2020 WCISVC Championships next October.

SWIM TEAM AT ISAs
On Thursday, October 10, our Tigers swimmers face their first big test of the season by competing at the ISA Swim Championships at Watermania. YHS is the defending ISA Girl’s Champions. Results will be shared next week. Go Tigers!

CROSS-COUNTRY TEAM UPDATE
While all of our teams have been competing in weekly games and weekend tournaments, our Cross-Country Team has been quietly running along, literally. The Tigers compete at weekly cross-country meets against all other schools in our Lower Mainland Independent School league and have been enjoying some terrific results. The girls will be competing at our Zone Championships on October 22 at Jericho Park.

FIELD HOCKEY UPDATE
Our Varsity Team defeated Crofton House 3-1 in a recent league game while our Junior and Senior Teams have been competing hard and doing well in their respective league games.

All three field hockey teams will compete in an ISA competition on October 19-20. Our Junior and Senior Teams will travel to Shawnigan Lake School while our Varsity Team competes at the ISA Tier 1 Championships at Crofton House (CHS). Come cheer on the Tigers at CHS on October 18 at 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm and on October 19 at 10:00 am and following playoff game.

*WEEKLY FYI*

YORK HOUSE IN BC SCHOOL SPORT
Many may wonder about the organizational structure of high school sport in BC and where York House fits into it. I often get asked questions such as: 

  • Why does YHS not play Vancouver public schools? 
  • At BC Championships does YHS compete against all public and independent schools?
  • Why are we a ‘AA’ school?

This 2019-20 school year there are some brand new changes. Here is an overview of the organizational structure of sport:

Lower Mainland Independent School Athletic Association:
YHS is a member of the LMISSAA. This is our local league where we play our league games/meets against other teams in our LMISSAA league. During the season, YHS athletes/teams also compete in various invitational tournaments where we could play any school in BC (public or independent). We also set up friendly exhibition games against other schools.

Also, ISABC Schools (Independent Schools Association of BC) organize ISA events. These ISA Championships are simply for bragging rights among the ISA schools. It is also an opportunity for our teams to compete against schools like Southridge, Brentwood College, or St. Michaels University School. These are schools we may not normally meet over the course of a season.

LMISSAA Playoffs:
At the end of the regular season, we have LMISSAA playoffs to determine the final placings in our league. If YHS places high enough in our LMISSAA Championships, our teams will advance to the Zone Championships.

Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championships:
This is the first year for new zones in BC School Sports. YHS has always been in the Lower Mainland Zone, however, our new zone is the Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone (VS2S). This new zone includes the Lower Mainland Independent league schools, all Vancouver public schools, and all schools (public and independent) in North Vancouver, West Vancouver, Sunshine Coast, Howe Sound up to Whistler.  All senior YHS teams will now have to attend a VS2S Zone Championship event in order to qualify for BCs. The top athletes/teams at the VS2S Zone Championships earn a spot in the Provincial Championships. 

  • October 22: Cross-Country at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at Jericho
  • October 24-25: Varsity Field Hockey at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at Crofton House/Eric Hamber
  • October 29: Swim Team at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at Watermania
  • November 13-14: Senior Volleyball Team at Vancouver Sea to Sky Zone Championship Meet at St. Thomas Aquinas in North Vancouver

Provincial Championships:
BC School Sports (BCSS) runs BC Championships for almost all high school sports at the senior level. Some sports that do not have BCSS sanctioned championships are table tennis, water polo, rowing, and ice hockey. Grade 8 and Junior Provincial Championships are invitational events and not official BC Championships. BCSS Provincial Championships include all schools in BC (public and independent). However, some schools have large student populations while other schools are very small. 

How do we differentiate between these schools? BCSS has a tiering system based on student population. Large schools are ‘AAAA’ or ‘AAA’ and smaller schools are AA or A. It can be confusing as different sports have different tiering. For example, Crofton House and Little Flower are ‘AA’ in field hockey but are ‘AAA’  in volleyball as both have a larger student population than YHS. A larger student population does not always mean a stronger team. It is not uncommon for ‘AA’ to be stronger than ‘AAA’ in some sports.  

York House is a relatively small ‘AA’ sized school for all sports.

Our fall season athletes are working hard to qualify for the following BC Championships:

  • November 2: Cross-Country BC Championships in Abbotsford (Clearbrook Park)
  • November 6-8: Varsity Field Hockey BC Championships in Victoria (Lambrick Park Secondary)
  • November 15-16: Swim BC Championships in Richmond (Watermania)
  • November 28-30: Senior Volleyball Team BC Championships in Vernon (Kalamalka Secondary School)

David Prissinotti
Senior Athletics Director