SSNL Basketball needs rankings changes
By Jason Pike
Gross, disgusting and wrong are a few terms that come to mind as my jaw dropped reading the schedule for the SSNL Regional 1A qualifiers for the Avalon District this upcoming weekend.
The tournament consists of 4 teams. Dunne Memorial, St. Catherine’s, Baltimore, and St. Bons.
First, I have never agreed with St Bons being allowed to enter into the small school tournaments as they are not a part of NL schools and even more so, they are private school with the ability, if they chose, to create a super team.
They have competed and dominated multiple years in a row in 2A soccer taking away championships that were meant to be competed by actual small schools who can’t compete in the larger tournaments, but that’s a whole other topic for another time.
The one that really got me though was when I read that the Baltimore Broncos were competing in 1A Regional. And you ask well what’s wrong with that?
They are technically a small school. The part that I take issue with is that the Baltimore Broncos are the quote, defending back to back 2A boys provincial Basketball Championships from 2023 and 2024, unquote.
They also made it in the early Elite rankings in either 2023 or 2024 much to the chagrin of many teams who expected to be on that list,
It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s happening here. They got a taste of winning two years in a row, had a few boys graduate and aren’t willing to suffer through a rebuilding year opting instead to drop into a lower division where they will walk all over the smaller school teams.
Is this breaking the rules?
No, Its not. Is it ethically wrong? Absolutely in the ideals of sportsmanship. This hasn’t become competitive basketball. It’s become about ego and the desire to hang a Provincial Championship Banner on the wall whether it was earned or not.
Lakewood Academy from Glenwood did something similar back in 2015 – 2016. They won provincial 2A then the next year drop back to 1A and stayed there winning multiple banners walking over teams in a division that they did not belong in for several years. Not until this season where they’ve been moved up to 2A once again.
Nowhere else but Newfoundland would something like this be allowed to happen. Other provinces operating on a ranking system and to drop back a division you need to prove that you can’t compete at the level you are currently in.
I, personally, do not believe that to be the case in this situation. High school basketball comes in waves sometimes you do the crashing and sometimes you get crashed on. That’s just the natural order of things.
You can’t win all the time!
You can’t win all the time but to drop back to a lower division just for the sake of winning that provincial Banner is disgraceful. I place that on the Baltimore Broncos organization as well as SSNL for allowing it to happen in the first place.
Nothing is ever going to change until we have an upgraded system where rankings plus and minus are factored into the divisions.
In 4A the competition is much higher but 1A schools are much smaller, less numbers to choose from. Some of these schools have less than 50 people and have to combine with other schools just to be able to put a team together and give players a chance to compete.
I know a certain number of people will not like shining light to this situation but it’s been a long-standing issue. If topics aren’t spoken or get swept under the rug and things proceed as they always have then some people taking advantage of vulnerable situations.
That’s exactly what’s happening here. A vulnerable situation and small schools are getting taken advantage of.
If I thought the Baltimore Broncos truly couldn’t compete in the division that they have for the last decade I wouldn’t even waste my time. I have seen this team play and these are not a bunch of first-time basketball players who can’t dribble a ball.
This is a team of well coached and skilled athletes.
I think it’s a bloody shame this is going to be allowed to happen.
Actual small schools have their pocket picked just because a team doesn’t want to go through the trials and tribulations …the work, of a rebuilding year
