Boys and girls hoping to play soccer in the Metro Select division in September are now in the middle of a battle that has wound up in court.
On Wednesday, the Burnaby Metro Selects club was granted an interim injunction against the Burnaby District Youth Soccer Association in B.C. Supreme Court.
The move threw a wrench into the ongoing Metro team tryouts, preventing the district from implementing or organizing a program until the petition by the Selects club has been heard in Surpreme Court, according to a statement on the district’s website.
On Wednesday, Burnaby Selects president Frank Palmieri confirmed the soccer club filed an injunction against the district in B.C. Supreme Court.
“All player evaluations/tryouts scheduled by the BDYSA are cancelled. Players and coaches should not go to the fields for evaluations,” read a notice posted Thursday on the district website by association chair John Berry.
While the injunction temporarily suspends the district’s hand in running the Metro program, it is not to be considered a ruling on which group will ultimately gain control of teams participating in the Select league.
The district website suggested that a ruling on the action could be months away.
In response, Berry said Thursday, he hopes to convene a meeting with the board at the earliest convenience to address the issue of how best to move forward with compiling Metro teams before the district registrar's May 1 signing deadline.
"It's still doable," Berry said.
The trouble came to a head following a March 10 meeting where the Burnaby District Youth Soccer Association confirmed the board’s earlier decision to affiliate the Metro Soccer League through the district.
“We think player development is enhanced when we have closer links with our partner clubs, particularly our feeder clubs,” said Berry prior to the injunction.
The move was made to also help forge closer links with the high performance Premier League’s Mountain FC, which is a joint venture with the Burnaby and North Vancouver districts.
All but one of the district’s five feeder clubs, Burnaby Girls, Burnaby Selects, Cliff Avenue United, Royal City Youth, South Burnaby Metro Club and Wesburn soccer associations, supported the confirmation at the March 10 meeting.
With the Burnaby Selects unable to operate an independent program in the 2014/15 season, player evaluations were to be extended into April by the district.
The district’s decision was said to follow a long deliberation with the Selects group regarding the desire for representation for the feeder clubs on its executive board. This statement was disputed by Burnaby Selects president Frank Palmieri.
“The bottom line is the agreement didn’t happen and we decided to run the teams ourselves,” said Berry.
Last week, executive director of B.C. Soccer Paul Mullen said the district was well within its constitutional guidelines to make such a decision.
“The district has the right and responsibility for how Select teams are formed and defined,” Mullen said.
Mullen added that any appeal of a district decision must be made to B.C. Soccer within 10 working days following such a decision, and in this case, no appeal was filed.
