Girls' Basketball - A Concern or Not?

From David Grossman's Blog

http://thestar.blogs.com/schoolsports/2009/10/girls-basketball-a-concern-or-not.html


There are some interesting comments at the bottom of the article from the readers.

It this is reason for not doing a Top Ten this year...because girl's basketball is bad in the GTA??

not ALL basketball is bad, sure there are some weak teams, but there are strong teams as well. You cannot just forget about those.
Its crazy

Even more of a concern is a rumour that I heard that Peel Public School Board will not be letting rep players play school ball. They'll have to make a choice to play either or. I assume the better players will choose to play rep ball as calibre of play will be better - what will that do to school ball?

Can anybody confirm this rumour? It would be detremental to high school ball in that region. If they are doing this I assume it's so the "general" population will have a chance at making a team. That's what community house league teams are for. The Board would soon realize that they can't compete with other boards...

If this is true, then I am disgusted! The quality of basketball will drop drastically and kids shouldn't be forced to make a choice. Last I checked, club ball does not conflict with High School ball so what's the issue. What is the reasons that they have given for the possible rule?

As I said I haven't got confirmation on this. I tried contacting a high school principal in that area to get confirmation - but was referred back to the school board who did not respond. I was told of this by someone heavily involved in rep basketball as well as by a high school coach (not in Peel Region).

I can only assume, if this is true, that they would be doing this because people are complaining that the non-rep girls don't get enough playing time?

Can only guess - would love to know if it's true....

do you actually think that would be true? what a joke! of course that is not true.... you would knock of a least half the players from every sport, plus you would lose all coaching interest for sure.

If by the smallest margin that it could be true, it would be the worst decision for peel sports EVER

girls basketball in the gta is definitely a step down from the rest of the province. I don't believe it's because of a lack of coaching, but more of a lack of interest (both from children and parents), especially from an ealry age. Most high school basketball players (GTA) only play basketball in school, and once the season is over they don't pick up a ball.

It seems females are not getting the 'push' (for whatever reason) in the gta but outside of it there is great basketball being played.

I also noticed that the 'zone defence' has been implemented in many regions (previously banned) and this would contribute to very low scoring games, especially at the junior level

not that i know everything that happens in peel, but as the convenor of peel boys and girls basketball, a high school coach in peel, and a club coach in peel, i can say i have never heard that

Checker, the Peel Public Board can do nothing on their own. It is ROPSSAA that determines eligibility and no such rule was raised at last year's post-season coaches meeting and neither was it discussed at the pre-season meeting this past September.

I also noticed that the 'zone defence' has been implemented in many regions (previously banned) and this would contribute to very low scoring games, especially at the junior level

I don't think that a zone defense has any negative bearing. It is up to coaches to have a good system to beat zone defenses and it takes discipline to play it.

Grossman is the classic big fish in a small pond. Somehow, he thinks his very high paying job makes him the god of all high school athletics and the rest of us should bow down to him for blessing us with coverage in the Star...coverage that is mostly the work of coaches and parents coming to him with the scores and stories, rather than Grossman having to do the leg work.

If you want to see a true joke, read his blog. It is a collection of whining about how tough he has it and complaining about horrible teachers, administrators and OFSAA employees (i.e. the people who make high school athletics possible). The comments are even more disgusting; a bunch of high school sports followers who obviously hate everyone involved in high school athletics...except for Grossman and his bile. They're like a bunch of mindless lemmings.

Grossman whines about the quality of girls basketball and its lack of exposure yet he barely covers it, prefering instead to hang out at St. Mike's 90% of the time and with a few other football teams the rest of the time.

[quote="coachblue"]not that i know everything that happens in peel, but as the convenor of peel boys and girls basketball, a high school coach in peel, and a club coach in peel, i can say i have never heard that[/quote]
Coach, you are as good a source as there is when it comes to Peel basketball. So if you didn't hear it, I believe it is not on the table.

[quote="Peel Fan"]Grossman is the classic big fish in a small pond. Somehow, he thinks his very high paying job makes him the god of all high school athletics and the rest of us should bow down to him for blessing us with coverage in the Star...coverage that is mostly the work of coaches and parents coming to him with the scores and stories, rather than Grossman having to do the leg work.

If you want to see a true joke, read his blog. It is a collection of whining about how tough he has it and complaining about horrible teachers, administrators and OFSAA employees (i.e. the people who make high school athletics possible). The comments are even more disgusting; a bunch of high school sports followers who obviously hate everyone involved in high school athletics...except for Grossman and his bile. They're like a bunch of mindless lemmings.

Grossman whines about the quality of girls basketball and its lack of exposure yet he barely covers it, prefering instead to hang out at St. Mike's 90% of the time and with a few other football teams the rest of the time.[/quote]

Well said! As I have said before, he didn't have a pre-season report on girls basketball and has not carried a top 10 all season. He is all over boys football. He also is very good at promoting negative stories regarding basketball and then seems offended when he get's called out for it. He wrote a story last year glorifying a school getting crushed in a game 32-0 and was addressed by the principal of the losing team. She felt that the kids didn't need the embarrassing scene promoted in an article, which I agree with her. The score is posted and the players have played the game, so the embarrassment is already enough. He then posts in his blog in a very smart-aleck way, that the same team is now 5-1 this year and he has not heard from the same principal regarding the turn around. He doesn't get it. Last year the principal felt the need to stand up for her students and I commend her for that. Now that they were 5-1, she doesn't feel the need to bring it up because I know she realizes that Grossman will bring up the 32-0 game again.
I am very proud of Rick for this website and the coaches and players who make it what it is. There are great stories, debates, opinions, photos, tournament schedules, scores and all kinds of other stuff. I certainly look to this site to find out about all the things I listed and many other things. This site is great as it is not all about Eastern Commerce, Mother Teresa, Henry Carr and West Hill for boys and Eastern Commerce for girls. This site brings attention to the schools who would never get any attention from Grossman. If this was a football board, we wouldn't hear non-stop about St Mikes. He is no longer the big fish in the small pond. With Hooptown, the pond is now a lake and the fish are all the same size.

Well said WCbasketball, you point to many great things that we have without the star. Thanks WCbasketball, you made my day reading this and I am sure Rick @ Hooptowngta really appreciate your kind words.

I appreciate the compliment as I spoke, as always from the heart. I am amazed at the responses to the blog from readers of the star who to me have no clue. I read a post where somebody suggested to get rid of the game period to save on officials etc. What Grossman doesn't understand, or maybe he does, is that his negative blogs only cause negative exposure and negative responses while readers start to believe it's true. If you read the comments posted, many people agree with Grossman and start to add in their two cents in trashing the girls and the game.
Pretty sad Mr Grossman. As far as I am concerned, we don't need you. To Rick, coaches, players and family keep up the great work.

Coach Bobb
Winston Churchill CI