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PHYSICAL ACHIVEMENTS TOWARD ACADEMIC GOALS
Noel’s Basketball Academy (N.B.A COLLECTIVE) would like to formally address all OBA Clubs and Members regarding the sanction leveled out against our Club by the OBA.
Firstly we offer our sincerest apologies to the OBA clubs directly affected in our refusal to take part in the 2013 16U boys Division 3 championship last weekend in Ottawa. Reasons souring our protest is not only the unreasonable ranking we received, but also the manner in which the governing body of OBA has officially managed or in this case miss managed this dispute.
Extenuating circumstances notwithstanding, what are the procedures steps OBA takes before carrying out a sanction against a club?
On May 1st several days before these sanctions were issued, NBA emailed the office of Fair Play and Resolutions and officially requested their assistance in what we believed was an unreasonable stance taken by the ranking committee, to no reply. We also emailed the seeding committee seeking an explanation for the low a completely unexpected ranking. Our email request once again went unanswered and we were never given any justification. We later contacted the vice president and then the president requesting their involvement, once again to no avail. Neither the Executive president, vice president nor the president even bothered to reply to our emails.
We are now requesting from OBA a clear understanding of the procedure, steps, and polices that are in place before sanctions are carried out against a club. Also if there is a dispute with lower management, at what point does President, Vice President or Executive President Step in and attempt to resolve an issue democratically? For a OBA club Member in good standing to request the involvement of the governing bodies and for those request to be completely ignored and for that same club to be hit with sanctions without any formal correspondence with the upper management of the OBA frankly, is unacceptable.
We the Coaching staff, players and parents of NBA are appalled at the manner in which we have been treated by the OBA governing body. Our 1997 boys 16U team did not receive a ranking in the initial because OBA mistakenly neglected to approve our team on the administrative web site. On April 26 the Friday before the ranking committee convened we attempted to enter in our game results and only then realized the error made by the staff of OBA. As it was a Friday and after office hours we were unable to correct the problem and input our game results until office hours resumed Monday morning. As a result we were not amongst the teams in the initial ranking. And there by miss out on the opportunity to formally appeal any ranking we may have seen as undeserving.
Our dispute has little to do with what was mentioned above and has everything to do with what transpired shortly thereafter.
Does the OBA acknowledge that Noel’s Basketball Academy was unable to input game results because of negligence by their staff members? And if so what were their attempts to rectifying this oversight?
We have been participating in OBA at the 1997 age group going into our 4th year and our #1 team have made significant improvement each year as we have also made this year. It took us 3 year to earn our Division 1 ranking. Earning the 4th overall ranking in just your 3rd year is quite an accomplishment and is something our young men and coaching staff are proud of. It took a lot of commitment, effort and sacrifice from all involved and to be robbed of something that we have collectively worked diligently towards does not hold well with any of Noel’s Basketball Academy staff, parents and players. And to that point we have made what might seem as a hard and non cooperative stand, to the uninformed.
The reasons why we have chosen to appeal our ranking at Division 3 are as follows:
1. This season we have defeated the #3 team by 20 points. We also defeated the # 4 team on 2 occasions by 20 and then by 34 points respectively. Yet not only are both teams ranked ahead of us but they are ranked 2 divisions ahead.
2. The #3 overall have been defeated 8 times
3. The #4 overall have been defeated 7 times
4. The # 5 overall have been defeated 6 times
5. The # 6 overall has a record of 9 wins and 7 lose
6. The # 7 overall have an over record of 17 wins and 10
7. And the # 8 has an overall over record of 5 wins and 7 loses
8. Due to AAU commitments and teams disbanding, 7 out of last year D1 teams are no longer taking part in OBA this year. That combined with the fact we have not lost a game to any team participating in the OBA this season. One might argue that this should have made us the #1 overall ranked.
How does OBA justify how another club can receive a division 1 ranking with such poor win-lose ratio, and being placed over an established D1 team that went undefeated.
Fair play and simply reasoning suggest that if a club defeats another and is also undefeated it is now unreasonable for the defeated club or in this case defeated clubs, to be placed ahead of the undefeated club in the standing.
Not only does the above scenario accurately represent our current dilemma with OBA, but there are several additional facts we will address when we appear before the board of governors, that makes our dispute all the more outrageous.
I recall when we became a member of OBA there was Club Membership support. I no longer see this designation on OBA’s web site. In a situation such as ours, If a club strongly believes in their position and is unwilling to compromise their integrity and choose not to accept what they view as an unjust designation who within OBA is assigned to be the voice of that club? What is the OBA’s protocol in these matters? Is it fair sanctions can be taken without any one from the OBA board of Directors investigating and corresponding with the disputing club’s president? Other than demanding for Noel’s Basketball Academy complies or else, what other step has the governing body of OBA taken in attempting to resolve this matter, before it escalated and such heavy sanctions was taken against this club.
We are asking all club members to join us in our search for some answers and accountability from Ontario Basketball in hopes that another club will not be faced with these issues.
Looking forward to an open and respectful dialogue!
Thank you kindly,
Alvin Noel
President of Noel’s Basketball Academy
