Common sense has been first casualty of soccer war
An election will cure the Alberta Soccer Association's governance ills only if sensible people run for office and the electorate remembers those most responsible for the melodrama that played out in the boardroom, office and finally, on the pitch.
Only if there is a reasonable alternative to the directors whose jaw-dropping tactics included the firings and suspensions of seven ASA employees and the reprehensible act of withholding medals and trophies from 14-year-old soccer players who came away from a Three Hills tournament with a bitter taste of politics rather than the rewards they deserved.
Because there is every chance the people most responsible for creating the disgrace think they should still be allowed to govern the ASA when it comes out the other side of this black hole.
I believe they have lost that right, based on their hand in heaping humiliation upon the association and the negative impact their actions had on kids who play the game for fun.
I would tell you their names, but the issue is before the courts and to unduly influence those proceedings would be contemptible.
Much like the behaviour of some directors who consistently failed to do what's right over the past five months as the two warring factions led by president Chris Billings and vice-president Mario Charpentier held themselves out as the duly elected ASA board.
If the electorate really wants this association to change and grow, voters have to remember every action that disgusted them in the last five months. This has been a forgettable episode in the history of a once great association that counts 140,000 players as members, but forgetting would be the worst possible course of action.
When it should have been all about the kids last weekend as provincials kicked off, it was instead about money, bylaws and politics. About power. About one faction denying kids a chance at a provincial title because the district they represent was unjustly considered in bad standing for paying registration fees to the wrong bank account. Because that's the kids' fault.
Sadly, the last five months would not stand as an inducement for reasonable people to join up as coaches, office employees or directors. Quite the opposite. It was a stark reminder of all that ails amateur sport when adults are seduced by power or confused by process.
That's going to be costly. Word is that ASA technical director Neil Turnbull has given his notice, saddened by the gong show. He did not return a Journal call seeking comment. There will quite likely be other good soccer people like him who have been turned off by the ridiculous politicking.
If reasonable candidates do not stand up to replace those good, honest people, the association will settle for the kind of leadership that caused the furor in the first place and be poorer for it.
Back in early, May I suggested another election as a reasonable way to resolve the battle. There would be no need to determine the validity of Billings' suspension by the Charpentier board or the removal of the Charpentier board and election of the Billings board by an April 24 vote of the members. Only a do-over was necessary.
Given the lawsuits filed in an Edmonton court, that seems likely to happen, either at a special general meeting or the annual general meeting in January.
Billings said he will run for office because he could not abandon the people who supported him through this ordeal. Charpentier would not comment.
The two sides are close to standing down and handing control of the association to two interim caretakers in the ASA office. Common sense has a chance to prevail here if those people are left alone. They could certainly use the peace of mind, since their workplace has been toxic. Margaret Dunlop and Leanne Crowley worked there until they were both suspended with pay by Charpentier and Christine Chater on June 22. Dunlop said they were told they were being suspended for "causing a disruption in the office. What disruption I don't know."
It was neither the first nor the last dismissal.
"In general, morale was low. Personally, I have never experienced that much stress in my life," said Crowley. "There were always surprises. Threats. Security at work was always threatened."
Dunlop and Crowley attempted to return to work in early July because they felt for the five full-time staffers still plugging along.
"There is far more work than five people can do," said Dunlop. "We wanted to help."
They're good people and if good people want to work for the ASA and are allowed to do the right thing, there is hope.
But the fight for common sense is ongoing. The five men who coach U-18 boys and girls teams from Sherwood Park were suspended by their district for taking those teams to the provincials in St. Albert last weekend.
The Sherwood Park District Soccer Association president is Christine Chater, an active member of the Charpentier group. That group decided the St. Albert tournament couldn't be sanctioned as it was being held by a district in bad standing.
The coaches, players and their parents voted unanimously to play anyway, just as many other teams from other districts did. The five coaches, who face a disciplinary hearing Tuesday, have volunteered a lot of time.
Only if there is a reasonable alternative to the directors whose jaw-dropping tactics included the firings and suspensions of seven ASA employees and the reprehensible act of withholding medals and trophies from 14-year-old soccer players who came away from a Three Hills tournament with a bitter taste of politics rather than the rewards they deserved.
Because there is every chance the people most responsible for creating the disgrace think they should still be allowed to govern the ASA when it comes out the other side of this black hole.
I believe they have lost that right, based on their hand in heaping humiliation upon the association and the negative impact their actions had on kids who play the game for fun.
I would tell you their names, but the issue is before the courts and to unduly influence those proceedings would be contemptible.
Much like the behaviour of some directors who consistently failed to do what's right over the past five months as the two warring factions led by president Chris Billings and vice-president Mario Charpentier held themselves out as the duly elected ASA board.
If the electorate really wants this association to change and grow, voters have to remember every action that disgusted them in the last five months. This has been a forgettable episode in the history of a once great association that counts 140,000 players as members, but forgetting would be the worst possible course of action.
When it should have been all about the kids last weekend as provincials kicked off, it was instead about money, bylaws and politics. About power. About one faction denying kids a chance at a provincial title because the district they represent was unjustly considered in bad standing for paying registration fees to the wrong bank account. Because that's the kids' fault.
Sadly, the last five months would not stand as an inducement for reasonable people to join up as coaches, office employees or directors. Quite the opposite. It was a stark reminder of all that ails amateur sport when adults are seduced by power or confused by process.
That's going to be costly. Word is that ASA technical director Neil Turnbull has given his notice, saddened by the gong show. He did not return a Journal call seeking comment. There will quite likely be other good soccer people like him who have been turned off by the ridiculous politicking.
If reasonable candidates do not stand up to replace those good, honest people, the association will settle for the kind of leadership that caused the furor in the first place and be poorer for it.
Back in early, May I suggested another election as a reasonable way to resolve the battle. There would be no need to determine the validity of Billings' suspension by the Charpentier board or the removal of the Charpentier board and election of the Billings board by an April 24 vote of the members. Only a do-over was necessary.
Given the lawsuits filed in an Edmonton court, that seems likely to happen, either at a special general meeting or the annual general meeting in January.
Billings said he will run for office because he could not abandon the people who supported him through this ordeal. Charpentier would not comment.
The two sides are close to standing down and handing control of the association to two interim caretakers in the ASA office. Common sense has a chance to prevail here if those people are left alone. They could certainly use the peace of mind, since their workplace has been toxic. Margaret Dunlop and Leanne Crowley worked there until they were both suspended with pay by Charpentier and Christine Chater on June 22. Dunlop said they were told they were being suspended for "causing a disruption in the office. What disruption I don't know."
It was neither the first nor the last dismissal.
"In general, morale was low. Personally, I have never experienced that much stress in my life," said Crowley. "There were always surprises. Threats. Security at work was always threatened."
Dunlop and Crowley attempted to return to work in early July because they felt for the five full-time staffers still plugging along.
"There is far more work than five people can do," said Dunlop. "We wanted to help."
They're good people and if good people want to work for the ASA and are allowed to do the right thing, there is hope.
But the fight for common sense is ongoing. The five men who coach U-18 boys and girls teams from Sherwood Park were suspended by their district for taking those teams to the provincials in St. Albert last weekend.
The Sherwood Park District Soccer Association president is Christine Chater, an active member of the Charpentier group. That group decided the St. Albert tournament couldn't be sanctioned as it was being held by a district in bad standing.
The coaches, players and their parents voted unanimously to play anyway, just as many other teams from other districts did. The five coaches, who face a disciplinary hearing Tuesday, have volunteered a lot of time.