Saskatchewan students hoping for movement in a contract dispute with teachers that threatens the Hoopla provincial basketball tournament found appreciation from MLAs.Job action by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation included a withdrawal of extracurricular support on Thursday and Friday, which threatens the annual Hoopla basketball tournament.Students came from Wynyard, Moose Jaw, Davidson and Foam Lake to attend Question Period at the Saskatchewan legislature Tuesday, many wearing their basketball jerseys. NDP education critic Matt Love acknowledged them from the floor of the legislature and called them “leaders.”“As somebody who spent a long time coaching in school during my time as a teacher, we certainly value — and I think this is something that we share in this assembly — how much leadership is gained through all of this extracurricular work in athletics that you folks engage in,” Love said.Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill also welcomed the students. Later, Saskatchewan Party MLAs began a chant of "Let them play!" However, Love said the power to make that happen rested with Cockrill.“Responsibility for this dispute falls at the feet of one person in this province and it’s that minister sitting right over there. He alone has the power to make labour action go away. He alone has the power to keep Hoopla and school trips going,” Love said.“The two sides are so clearly at an impasse, Mr. Speaker. They should listen up. All he has to do is send the issue of class size and complexity to arbitration and the job action will end."After question period, Cockrill said he understands the passion behind the tournament.“Basketball was my life. The only thing I really cared about, probably from Grade 7 to 12, was putting a provincial championship banner on my school's wall. That's all I wanted to do,” Cockrill said.“When I received emails and calls and different social media messages from students around the province over the last week, I get the passion. I totally get it. I've been there.”Cockrill volunteered as a basketball coach in North Battleford in 2020 when a surprise overtime win over Warman qualified his team for Hoopla. Job action by the STF cancelled the event, then the pandemic ended the school year entirely.“In terms of political thoughts from that time, I can't remember any but I do remember feeling absolutely crushed for a couple boys on that team who were in Grade 12,” Cockrill said. Cockrill said the job action was the decision of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation and he hoped they would reconsider. He said the government had moved on many issues but would not concede putting guarantees on class sizes in a contract, nor submit to binding arbitration on the issue. He said it was not proper to do so, given the two sides had only spent a half hour at the negotiation table.“As a basketball coach, I would expect a full effort from my players to play the full 40 minutes, but we've got an STF leadership that only played for 30 minutes in the last five months. That's not a good enough effort in my mind.”Students from three schools in Moose Jaw met with Cockrill. Grade 12 student Callie Klemenz and her teammates with the Vanier Spirits were among them. She said Cockrill's recollection of his time as a coach made an impression, as did his intentions to intend Hoopla if the tournament took place.“I think it is really important to him that it does get hosted,” Klemenz said.“It kind of brought into perspective that he isn't just this high and mighty powerful guy. He is like an actual person that cares about sports and about all the students in Saskatchewan.”Klemenz said the pandemic cancelled her opportunity to play basketball in grade nine and her team wanted the opportunity to play in their own city as the defending 4A girls champions.“Getting to host in Moose Jaw is really important, just because we host and then on top of that, the whole city gets so much revenue from it. It's benefiting athletes and the entire city of Moose Jaw. And we really want to see that income for everyone around us,” Klemenz said.Parents and students from Preeceville drove 275 kilometres to protest at the STF office in Saskatoon on Tuesday, as their team had not been in the tournament since 1997. Klemenz was part of a group that protested at city hall on main street in Moose Jaw on Monday.“The two sides don't agree. We've supported the STF the entire time. It's just, we don't support this decision to take away our sport that we've worked so many hours for. They've only met the government for a total of 30 minutes when we've put in like thousands of hours into our game. And we just don't see it to be fair, them using us as pawns when they're saying it's all for us,” she said.In a statement, the STF said the provincial government had until 3 pm Wednesday to agree to binding arbitration on the issue of classroom size and complexity or the cancellation of Hoopla was "on them."
Saskatchewan students hoping for movement in a contract dispute with teachers that threatens the Hoopla provincial basketball tournament found appreciation from MLAs.Job action by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation included a withdrawal of extracurricular support on Thursday and Friday, which threatens the annual Hoopla basketball tournament.Students came from Wynyard, Moose Jaw, Davidson and Foam Lake to attend Question Period at the Saskatchewan legislature Tuesday, many wearing their basketball jerseys. NDP education critic Matt Love acknowledged them from the floor of the legislature and called them “leaders.”“As somebody who spent a long time coaching in school during my time as a teacher, we certainly value — and I think this is something that we share in this assembly — how much leadership is gained through all of this extracurricular work in athletics that you folks engage in,” Love said.Education Minister Jeremy Cockrill also welcomed the students. Later, Saskatchewan Party MLAs began a chant of "Let them play!" However, Love said the power to make that happen rested with Cockrill.“Responsibility for this dispute falls at the feet of one person in this province and it’s that minister sitting right over there. He alone has the power to make labour action go away. He alone has the power to keep Hoopla and school trips going,” Love said.“The two sides are so clearly at an impasse, Mr. Speaker. They should listen up. All he has to do is send the issue of class size and complexity to arbitration and the job action will end."After question period, Cockrill said he understands the passion behind the tournament.“Basketball was my life. The only thing I really cared about, probably from Grade 7 to 12, was putting a provincial championship banner on my school's wall. That's all I wanted to do,” Cockrill said.“When I received emails and calls and different social media messages from students around the province over the last week, I get the passion. I totally get it. I've been there.”Cockrill volunteered as a basketball coach in North Battleford in 2020 when a surprise overtime win over Warman qualified his team for Hoopla. Job action by the STF cancelled the event, then the pandemic ended the school year entirely.“In terms of political thoughts from that time, I can't remember any but I do remember feeling absolutely crushed for a couple boys on that team who were in Grade 12,” Cockrill said. Cockrill said the job action was the decision of the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation and he hoped they would reconsider. He said the government had moved on many issues but would not concede putting guarantees on class sizes in a contract, nor submit to binding arbitration on the issue. He said it was not proper to do so, given the two sides had only spent a half hour at the negotiation table.“As a basketball coach, I would expect a full effort from my players to play the full 40 minutes, but we've got an STF leadership that only played for 30 minutes in the last five months. That's not a good enough effort in my mind.”Students from three schools in Moose Jaw met with Cockrill. Grade 12 student Callie Klemenz and her teammates with the Vanier Spirits were among them. She said Cockrill's recollection of his time as a coach made an impression, as did his intentions to intend Hoopla if the tournament took place.“I think it is really important to him that it does get hosted,” Klemenz said.“It kind of brought into perspective that he isn't just this high and mighty powerful guy. He is like an actual person that cares about sports and about all the students in Saskatchewan.”Klemenz said the pandemic cancelled her opportunity to play basketball in grade nine and her team wanted the opportunity to play in their own city as the defending 4A girls champions.“Getting to host in Moose Jaw is really important, just because we host and then on top of that, the whole city gets so much revenue from it. It's benefiting athletes and the entire city of Moose Jaw. And we really want to see that income for everyone around us,” Klemenz said.Parents and students from Preeceville drove 275 kilometres to protest at the STF office in Saskatoon on Tuesday, as their team had not been in the tournament since 1997. Klemenz was part of a group that protested at city hall on main street in Moose Jaw on Monday.“The two sides don't agree. We've supported the STF the entire time. It's just, we don't support this decision to take away our sport that we've worked so many hours for. They've only met the government for a total of 30 minutes when we've put in like thousands of hours into our game. And we just don't see it to be fair, them using us as pawns when they're saying it's all for us,” she said.In a statement, the STF said the provincial government had until 3 pm Wednesday to agree to binding arbitration on the issue of classroom size and complexity or the cancellation of Hoopla was "on them."
