Coverage of youth sport in the local newspaper is essential to building community pride and shining a light on the accomplishments of those who take part. That said, I was disappointed to see the Nelson Star not provide better coverage of the BC High School Girls AA Provincial Championships and what the L.V. Rogers Bombers did to earn a bronze medal in the tournament.
The soccer event which was held in Nelson last week brought more than 275 athletes from all across the province. The local girls who represented their community came into the tournament as defending champions and played three days of stellar soccer to earn their second medal in as many years. It took volunteers hundreds of hours to plan and execute this event.
Prior to the tournament there was a small story in the paper which hardly did justice to the scale of what was taking place. Hosting provincials is an honour and a perfect way to show off what a great community we have. So many of the players, coaches and their supporters from out of town raved about what a beautiful venue we have at Lakeside Park and the professional manner in which the tournament was run. It felt like the newspaper was not in touch in this manner.
In the post-tournament coverage, the Nelson Star also did not include a team photo of the bronze medal winning Bombers.
Not including the faces of all the players and coaches seems like a pretty big oversight. The members of this team take great pride in wearing their school colours and making their community proud. Not sharing with the community all these faces diminishes the effort and dedication of all involved.
As a parent of one of the players, I would like to once again congratulate all the players, coaches and volunteers who made the BC High School Girls AA Provincial Championships such a success.
Congratulations for the LVR Bombers Rugby Team for finishing in second place in the BCSSRU Provincials!
Lisa Quinn
Nelson