‘We just want to play’: Decision keeping Moncton girls off the ice reversed

Moncton High School students Kylie Blackman and Ayla MacAleese Jay weren’t sure what hockey team they were going to play for this year or if they were even going to get on the ice.

The pair wanted to play for their school, but the team didn't have enough players.

The idea of borrowing a few skaters from Bernice MacNaughton High School who are not icing a team this year was denied last month by the New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association (NBIAA), the governing body for high school sports in the province.

However, that decision was reversed on Friday.

Blackman was thrilled to hear the news.

“I'm very excited to be able to play. It's just a great opportunity for girls to be able to play,” she said.

NBIAA president Andy Clark confirmed after a vote by membership on Thursday, it was agreed to allow AA and AAA schools to use the shared athlete policy for exhibition games this year.

“As such, MHS and BMHS are able to have a joint team if they choose to,” said Clark in an email.

The motion passed with 87 per cent support.

MacNaughton players Reneé Prasad and Kaylee Betts found out Friday afternoon and were pleasantly surprised to hear Moncton High would be allowed to borrow players.

“Oh they are? I'm happy that we are able to play this year. I didn't think we were going to be able to,” said Prasad.

Betts didn’t think so either.

“I'm super happy,” said Betts. “They reversed it, surprisingly. I didn't think they would.”

School staff, coaches and parents advocated for a change to the player sharing policy.

Moncton East MLA Daniel Allain wrote a letter to the NBIAA on Monday urging them to reconsider their decision to deny Moncton High’s proposal to allow three to four players from Bernice MacNaughton to join the team.

“Some files have to be looked on or analyzed on a case-by-case basis,” said Allain in an interview on Friday. “The policy was made for a reason. We all know why the policy was there. Some people sometimes stack teams. At the end of the day the girls wanted to play.”

Allain said he heard from coaches and parents who were concerned with what was going on.

“I'm just glad the NBIAA made the right decision,” said Allain.

So were the girls, who now don't have to sit out their senior season.

“I probably would not have played this year and just stopped forever but I wanted to play my grad year and finish off,” said Betts.

Blackman, who’s grateful the NBIAA will allow them to play, wasn’t sure what she would have done.

“I would have been extremely devastated and I probably would have had to revert back to another U-18 team,” said Blackman.

The senior is itching to get back on the ice and while the combined team is about a month behind their rivals, she said that doesn't really matter to her.

“Just play hockey no matter what. We don't care if we win or lose; we just want to play,” said Blackman.

Including three or four players from MacNaughton, Moncton High now has 15 or 16 players.

Moncton High head coach Larry Cook said he and the other coaches are extremely pleased the NBIAA has voted in favor of changing the policy.

“This change now gives more opportunities for student athletes to participate in the sports they love at the high school level across the entire province,” said Cook in an email.

The coaches plan on meeting this weekend to determine the next steps for the team.

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