Questions remain in wake of N.B. tragedy

I have no children of my own, but I certainly get the chance to meet, get to know and interact with plenty of young people – and their parents – in my job, particularly those who play on school sports teams.

I heard about the tragic accident involving the senior boys’ basketball team from Bathurst High School secondhand, on the TV news.

There are hardly words to express one’s feeling at the loss of one person – of whatever age – under such tragic circumstances. The loss of eight people - seven young men, all teammates, and one adult - in the same mishap, is almost too much to comprehend.

You find yourself watching the coverage over and over, not out of some macabre fascination, but as if, in some way, it will somehow turn out to be an awful dream.

When something like this occurs, we immediately think of how it might have been prevented. We also can’t help thinking that, but for the grace of God, it might have been me - or someone I know.

From all accounts, the driver of the van in which the team was travelling was not speeding or driving recklessly – though he easily might have let his guard down a bit as he got nearer to home, as any of us might have done. To blame this man for what happened is unconscionable. He lost his wife in the accident, as well as seven young men who he probably thought of as sons. He’ll be haunted by this.

I’ve always been bothered a bit by the mentality surrounding sports teams that the game has to go on, regardless of the weather conditions or anything else. I recall an incident a few years ago when a winter storm threatened to disrupt the regional basketball championships. There were several tournaments on the same weekend, and it was interesting to see the conflicting views in terms of cancellation. At least one tournament was postponed and played early the following week. It was a bit of an inconvenience and the students had to miss some school time, but no one had to risk their lives for a basketball game. Some of the tournaments went on as scheduled which, in hindsight, was okay because nothing like this ended up happening.

What if it had?

In the wake of the events of January 11, it certainly makes a person think twice.

One parent of a student/ athlete at a Valley school wrote a letter afterward chastizing the school board for not simply cancelling all play for that weekend – which was certainly within its power to do. The man’s son’s team had to travel across the province and ended up having to spend an extra night away rather than travel back in the stormy weather. They had tried to cancel out, but were apparently told, if they did, they would forfeit their games and give up a chance to move on to the next level – something their coach, with a team of mostly Grade 12 students, was reluctant to do. Not only was this a terrible position in which to place a coach, it forced him - and his team - to put competition ahead of commonsense. Luckily, everything turned out okay.

The team from Bathurst wasn’t as lucky.

I’m as much a sports fan as the next person, and I can appreciate it’s sometimes an inconvenience for the organizers when teams cancel, often at the last minute. Think a minute: all they’re doing is putting commonsense - and the health and safety of the students in their charge - ahead of a competition that, frankly, isn’t going to be the end of the world if it doesn’t happen.

As the survivors of the Bathurst tragedy can sadly tell you, making the wrong decision literally can be the end of the world.

What is needed here is some kind of blanket policy, whether it’s imposed by school boards, the provincial school athletic federation or the Department of Education. If the weather is too bad for school buses to run and students to travel to school, it’s probably too bad for teams to travel to tournaments, no matter how important they are.

Nothing, after all, is as important as a human life.