There are few events more synonymous with the Estevan-Weyburn rivalry than the McLeod Series.
The venerable best-of-four showdown between the Estevan Comprehensive School Elecs’ and the Weyburn Comprehensive School Eagles’ senior boys’ and girls’ basketball teams dates back to 1932. It’s had its peaks and valleys, but recent years have certainly been a peak for on-court competitiveness.
Estevan’s victory over Weyburn in 2015 ended a 32-year drought for ECS and breathed new life into the showdown.
Sadly, the McLeod won’t be happening this year.
The Weyburn Comprehensive School announced on its Facebook page on Jan. 24 that the series would be taking a break this year. Weyburn cited harassment and even threats that have occurred in recent years.
Now, let me be clear about this: If you’re the type who is uttering threats at players at a sporting event, then maybe you take it a little too seriously. If you’re hurling threats at a high school basketball game, well, that’s even worse. It’s high school basketball. Not Game 7 between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics in the 1984 NBA Final.
There is absolutely no excuse for threatening and harassing behaviour towards players, coaches, officials or anyone else, especially in youth sports. Such conduct should be dealt with harshly and swiftly. If students are guilty, then the school needs to act accordingly. If it’s adults, then the police might need to be involved.
I’ve said a lot of stupid things at sporting events over the years, things I certainly wish I could take back. My conduct was inexcusable. But I never shouted threats to an opponent.
These athletes are playing for school and community. They aren’t paid to be on the court. So let’s keep our conduct respectable.
I’ve seen and heard fans be loud and even obnoxious at the McLeod Series games, but I haven’t noticed something that I would classify as harassing, threatening or even offensive.
That being said, the McLeod Series should be allowed to go ahead this year. The kids on both teams who have looked so forward to the event shouldn’t be punished for the conduct of others. And there are so many, both in the school and in the community, who look forward to the showdown, to those two fun Wednesday nights in February.
Take a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to unruly behaviour. Let the fans be boisterous and energetic, as long as they aren’t disrupting anything. If they cross the line, well, they’ll get to be escorted from the premises in front of hundreds of people who know them.
The people who cause the problems should be punished, not the kids or those associated with the teams.
Reaction on social media was every bit as heated as one would expect. People look forward to this showdown. And now that it won’t happen, they’re accusing the schools of a gross over-reaction.
There have been interruptions to the McLeod Series before, such as the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. But when this competition was started nearly 90 years ago, I doubt anyone would have thought crass behaviour would be a reason for cancellation.
Estevan beating Weyburn in the 2015 McLeod Series is one of my strongest sports memories in 21 1/2 years of covering sports in this city. You could tell the Estevan kids knew this was a golden opportunity to regain the elusive crown; Weyburn players didn’t want to be known as the ones who lost it. The games were packed with emotion, intensity and wild emotional swings.
Since then, we’ve had several editions in which the result wasn’t known until the final moments. Estevan’s last title in 2017 was decided in overtime.
But now, because of a few yahoos who took this series far too seriously, the McLeod won’t be happening this year.
The kids on both teams deserve better, especially the Grade 12s who won’t get another opportunity to play in this event. It’s the second time in three years that the McLeod Series has been called off.
It’s technically an exhibition series, but I can’t imagine a better pressure test for the kids to go through before they get to regionals and, hopefully, the Hoopla provincials.
Hopefully, this will be just a one-year reprieve, and the McLeod Series can return for next season, with measures in place to handle those who insist on embarrassing themselves, their school and their community.
