Sandy lends a helping hand
Sandy Forand would certainly qualify as an expert on girls basketball in Niagara.
Forand has been officiating boys and girls basketball in the region for more than 50 years. She is a great barometer for the present state of the game.
“In the earlier part of this basketball season as I officiated at the elementary level, I noticed that the girls teams are diminishing in the number of schools especially in the lower-income areas,” she said, adding it was an obvious issue in the intermediate category for students in Grades 7 and 8. “They would have a boys team and not a girls team.”
She officiates mainly in Welland and noted that three schools didn’t have intermediate girls teams.
“I talked to Sean (Medeiros), the convenor at the DSBN, and he said that overall there is a trend of elementary girls not participating in basketball in St. Catharines and throughout the region. It really translated last year in the Catholic board where only three schools had junior girls basketball. That’s huge. And there were some schools that didn’t have any girls basketball which is alarming. It is happening and I think it is going to get worse.”
Forand feels the problem can be traced back to the COVID 19 pandemic.
“Girls were sitting at home but boys were still active. With the girls coming back after COVID, they were apprehensive. The No. 1 reason was body image.”
Forand said a recent survey of female officials determined their numbers were also decreasing for the same reason.
She met with a couple of the principals at the Welland schools which didn’t have intermediate girls teams and offered to put clinics on to show girls of that age group that basketball is something they could do just for fun.
“It doesn’t have to be a higher skill level. It’s about play and being active. The clinics were very positive and a couple of Niagara College players came out with me and made it a lot of fun.”
She described the Niagara College players as awesome.
“In the role they came for, they weren’t sure how they would do but they were amazing. And they were local kids. They came from schools like these and the girls could see that the players were like them and they could do it too.”
When Forand was at the clinics, she asked the girls why they weren’t coming out for basketball.
“They didn’t have the confidence to come out. They said they were not used to playing and didn’t know anything about basketball. They didn’t want to. There was a big hesitation after a couple of years of not participating in sports.”
Financial barriers are also an issue that needs to be addressed.
Forand also officiates softball and says the problem is evident in that sport as well.
“It is alarming and I am looking into helping my community because I care about my community. I am a big volunteer in sports.”
She has already run two basketball clinics and will stage a third one at Ross Public School on April 2.
The first two clinics attracted 25 students at each school.
“They went into a jamboree-type situation with the DSBN where they had a one-day, throw it together (tournament) which was great. It’s all about participation.”
The intermediate season of elementary girls basketball is over and the junior division for Grades 5 and 6 is just starting. Forand is going to see which schools don’t have junior girls squads and target them for clinics.
She believes it is an important initiative.
“If girls continue to not be involved in physical activity, there will be health issues. I have been active all my life in sports and I know that the quality of life you lead when you are participating in any sport is better. You develop leadership skills, confidence and it is for mental health as well as physical. You are not worried about body image. You see the pleasure in sports.”
Forand has travelled the world for sports and has been in countries where girls don’t have a chance to participate in sports.
“Coming from Canada, it’s very important for me that girls have opportunities to make choices. We have choices here.”
