by Damilare Akintade
October 18, 2018 | Sports
Out of all the sports played at Dawson, whether it be soccer, hockey, cheerleading or others, basketball is arguably the most watched sport. Some Blues members suspect that the reason for this disproportionate popularity could be that the school is promoting and investing more into basketball than other sports teams. Players from the basketball team and other athletes shared their opinion on this issue. Sizeable funding is allocated to schools in order to enhance facilities and the overall academic environment. According to the Student Services and Athletics Coordinator at Dawson, Dan Boyer, the “[school sports programs’] budget is in the neighborhood of $111,000.” So, where does all this money go?
For one, it doesn’t go into Dawson’s men’s hockey team anymore. The team was disbanded in part because of the fact that there wasn’t enough money to maintain the program. Vincent Cournoyer, a Social Science student who played in the Dawson men’s hockey team visibly disagrees with this decision: “We were really pissed off,” he expressed. Word around the school suggests that most of the money is used to improve the basketball team. Apart from the allocated money from Dawson invested into the team, people are also paying to go watch the games. Even Dawson students have to pay to be able to watch the games.
“Not sure if it’s true or not, but I feel we are winning and improving which might be the reason why the school is so invested in the team,” said an anonymous Dawson Blues basketball player. Most people did not want to answer this question because they feel their opinion would be perceived as an opposition to what the school is doing for the basketball team.
Although this may be controversial, some people think that Dawson should invest in the basketball team, because most of the school is more focused on the sport and it is talked about regularly. Others feel the school isn’t investing enough nor giving equal distribution to each team. Just like Nursing student Bianca Borcea, captain of the frisbee team, who said: “I don’t know exactly how much or even if they are investing more, but the basketball team shines more than every other team in the school. No one even hears about frisbee, only when we walk around and ask people if they want to join the team.” However, Emery Lewis, Daytime Facility Manager at the PARC said, “The school is not promoting the basketball team or neither is it investing more into it. I feel the soccer teams are getting more things such as new recruitments, new facilities, and many more. So, I don’t feel the school is promoting or investing much on the basketball team.”
Sarnai Bisaillon, a Law, Society and Justice student who is also part of the cheerleading team, said:
“Totally true, basically, every single school has its own sport. Here at Dawson everyone worships basketball and because it is so popular, people see a future in it. So the school is putting more into it knowing it is going to help some students get scholarships into bigger schools. For example, some guys from the division 1 last year are now playing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association.”
This might be true, but if the school puts more effort and money in other sports, it might help the athletes get noticed by big schools too.
However, one might blame the school for wanting to invest in a sport that would encourage its players to become big stars in the future. If it were to have an impact on the other teams in the school, there should be able a balance in its budget in a way to not only encourage the basketball team, but every other sport as well.