RESPONSE TO NIKYTA WITKOWSKIS LETTER TO THE EDITOR POSTED ON THE BC RUGBY (bcrugbynews/show_news.cfm?ID=1411) =================================================== Dear Nikyta --------------- Let me start off by saying I saw you play with JBAA against the UBCOBs a few weeks ago and you played like a hammer. At 38 year as good as anyone in that BC Premier Division game !! In a high level league that for the most part should not be the case I agree, but having said that do you remember the likes of Gordie Howe (age 52), Chris Chelios (age 48), Teemu Selanne (now 43) who played and are still playing in the NHL. You are one of those rare exceptions !! Having said that lets have a look at your below letter you posted. With the greatest of respect either you took some bad hits on the head or you are drinking the BC Kool Aid . First off there are no high level / professional regional leagues that prosper in the modern world .Take the NHL as an example which was basically a 6 team regional league until 1967 . With expansion to now 30 teams It evolved into one the top 4 professional sports leagues in North America. The national media for the most part will not cover regional/provincial leagues. The result of that is no TV and/or sponsorship dollars meaning no chance of evolving into a viable professional league. Canada had a national 14 team self funded coast to coast league (RCSL) which was dismantled and replaced with a 4 team IRB/RB subsidized regional based league (CRC). Outside of Vancouver/Victoria, Calgary, Toronto and St. Johns there is limited interest and no media coverage for this league. The majority of the high calibre centres you referred to in your article do not come from BC - Trainor (BC), Hearn (NFLD), Dolesau (Fiji), Blevins (Alberta),Parfrey (NFLD), DTH (Saskatchewan via SA), Braid (BC) , Ross (Ontario) and Hassler (Alberta). Im sure these provinces would not be more motivated to develop players if they could see it would benefit them and not BC. By the way only 5 of the squad of 23 that played against Samoa on Friday . Lets not forget our highly successful womens WRWC team also had only 5 out of 26 players from BC . Like Bob Dylon sang the times they are a changing. BC because of its playing numbers, staunch rugby history / culture and of course weather will always be an significant and integral part of the success of Canadian rugby but not the final answer as you suggest. Again like Dylon sang maybe the answer my friend is blowin in the wind Respectfully Karl Fix ---------- A Letter from Former National Team Player Nikyta Witkowski: The Future of Rugby in BC and Canada posted November 16 2014 on BC Rugby News Today marks my 20th year of playing at “the highest level” in BC. 20 years ago, I made my debut against CW in the inter-lock, an inter-league BC competition pitting the best teams across the Valley, Vic, and Van. I had the pleasure of meeting Roger Robinson and his brother on the field, while playing for a UBC team boasting a slew of Canada players (bubble or not, the date was 94) like Mike Schmid, Al Tynan, Harry Toews, Winston Stanley, Ian Middleton, and a ton of players of great class like Christian Milau, Gareth Adams, and the rest of the 94-95 alum. Not even sure what the score was after all these years… But here we are, 20 years later. I’m playing with Ty deGoede, Phil Mack, and a host of Bays players that keep rugby going, like the Dalziel Bros, Jim deGoede, and the young guys. Did we win? Does that matter? The honest truth was that at 17-18 years old I wanted to play rugby. Rugby at the highest level, with the hope that one day I might play for Canada. I was from Quebec. A province with heart and tradition, but not regularly putting guys on the national team. A coach I had in high school had these amazing playing cards from the ’91 world cup. It had each player, with stats of where they came from, and on the back, skills they thought were essential to their success. I read these as a 15 year old religiously. Beyond the heroics of Gareth Rees, the insane workouts of Gord McKinnon, something stood out to me… 95% played in BC, with a high percentage coming from UBC. So, as a young man, I set course to find out what this “BC” bias was about. I went to UBC only to view first hand what REAL rugby was. Mike Schmid stole the ball from me with such ease at practice that I asked him how on earth could a skinny kid from Quebec ever learn the fundamentals of not giving the ball away in contact, He simply said, after removing his Walkman with the mix-tape from the Side Door, was that, “Son, you just have to fight as hard as you can, like your life depended on it, NEVER turn the ball over.” But I digress. The real issue here is that I should not be playing Prems rugby. I’m 38. My body should disown me each time I get the notion of playing because the LEAGUE I’m playing in should follow the simply economic principle of supply and demand… You are too old. There is a supply of bodies in the LEAUGE that DICTATE that, at best, you “could” sub for the Prems, but really you are a 1st div guy. But that isn’t happening. Why? Well, if I had to play Trainor, Hearn, Dolesau, Blevins, Parfrey, DTH, Braid, J-Ross, Hassler, and every other high caliber center in the league, I might just quit. My body would tell me, realistically, that you aren’t up to speed, your decision making is too slow (as highlighted by P Mack this afternoon), and I would be FORCED out… But that isn’t happening. Why? There are a few different answers… less people playing, high performance exclusion of participation in BC rugby, historical clubs sputtering, etc. We all have excuses. The simple answer is this. BC rugby dictates the rugby played in Canada. Ontario can argue as can everyone else in between. But history will show you that when BC rugby is the TOP, Canada does well (ahem… many matches against top sides pre-pro rugby attest to that). But we are in the sad position where BC rugby is at best “ok”. Sure, it’s rugby, but we aren’t ever going to challenge a pro side, the sub-prem team Canada played the other week included. That is just where we are “at”. I hate to date myself by quoting “close encounters” or “field of dreams” but if you build it, THEY WILL COME. I’m not sure when the disconnect emerged between BC rugby and Rugby Canada, and in all fact, who cares? RC takes players, sits them from the BC competition, robbing our league of 30 of our best players who could play (regularly?) to make BC rugby the best league. Let’s be honest, we are gifted the weather to play all year, so why not? And RC will do what it needs as they have different masters than us, the people playing rugby day in day. So why fight it? BC Build it, they will come. Build the best league in NA and see what happens. Pay money so that our refs are moving the game in the right direction. Build rugby at the grassroots, because where else will those players come from? Let everyone else worry about who is available to play (RC) and make rugby the dominant tradition it has been in BC. DON’T LET IT DIE. There will be some weird times with all of this. Do we look at catchment areas or do we look at a “super league” with the US, or do we just keep living in the past? These aren’t my decisions to make, nor easy ones, but I’d like to think the future lies with BC rugby, not RC. RC will do what they have to (and I’m a huge fan of what the 7s program is doing), but for the rest of “US”... Let’s Build it. † disclaimer - Business 101 – Rugby is a subscription model. RC and BC get small cuts of registration fees. IF MORE PEOPLE PLAY… you get MORE MONEY. So, focusing on new players playing might really work out… if you paid attention to this fact. † Rugby at the OLYMPICS will be BIG… FACT. Saw first hand how well received the 7s game is at numerous international tournaments, and 2 commonwealth games… THEY (the public paying for tickets, TV, sponsorship $$ etc…) LIKE it. Dangle the carrot of an Olympic medal… see what happens? † Sport is evolving, traditional club models may or may not work as we know it. Adapt, or get left behind. – Darwin. † The USA is going to be a good market… let THEM have it, or… BC, build it and they will come? † Most decisions at club level are made based on the system ‘we’ grew up in. Let’s build the future of North American rugby in British Columbia and see what happens. “WE DECIDE?????” Nikyta Witkowski: Played for Canada sporadically from 1998-2006. If you have ideas, or comments, negative or positive, my email is nikyta.witkowski@gmail Helped coach Canada and BC at v
Posted on: Mon, 17 Nov 2014 15:13:10 +0000