Hoop dreams: Father sues to get daughter on top-tier B.C. basketball team

A father in Langley, B.C., issuing the organization that runs high school sports in the province in an effort to get his daughter playing on a top-levelchampionship B.C. basketball team.

In a notice of civil claim recently filed in B.C. Supreme Court, Daniel Jonathan Custodioargues his daughter, Lyric Custodio, should be allowed to play for Brookswood Secondary Schoolwhereshe's currently enrolled.

Lyric, a Grade 11 student and one of the top players in the province, had been playing for McMathSecondary in Richmond, where the family had lived for three years before moving to Surrey. McMathSecondary was defeated by Brookswoodinlast year's AAA Championships.

Last spring,the family moved from Surrey to theBrookswoodSecondary Schoolcatchmentarea inLangley "due to their concerns about the increasing level of violent crime in the Newton area,"according to the claim's statement of facts.

The statement claims the family decided on Langleybecause rents were affordable, both parents could find work there, and Brookswoodoffered a top-tier basketball program.

But the statement of facts specifythe move was not specifically to make Lyric eligible for the basketball program at Brookswood thatwould be against eligibility rules for B.C. School Sports(BCSS).

The claimstates the family was then evicted from their new home in Langleyshortly after they moved in to make room for the landlord's father.

So the family moved within Langleybut to a street that was no longer within the catchment area for Brookswood.

When Brookswood filed the paperwork on behalf of the family soLyric could join the team, it was denied as was its appeal of that decision.

The family says the decision will impact Lyric's basketball career because she won't be visible to scouts as she sits out the season, and the family can't afford forher to attend post-secondary school without a scholarship or tuition waiver.

The family also claims the decision has negatively impacted her attitude and mental state.

Protecting teams' competitive balance

BCSS eligibility rules specify that students transferring to another high school can't play the same sport at the newschool for 12 months.

A BCSS pamphlet on the subjectexplains the rules are in place "to protect the competitive balance inherent between schools' existing student populations."

There are, however, some exceptions including movingdue tofinancial hardship,academic reasonsor other special circumstances.

The rules also stateif the family moves to a new school district, the studentcan enrol atany school there.

However, according to the court documents,BCSSdenied Brookswood's firstexemption request because Lyric had moved within Langley out ofthe school's catchment area.

And when the school appealed the decision, BCSScited itsrule that students can't play for a team if the family moves to the catchment area to play on a specific team whether there arebona fide reasons for the move or not.

"We feel that we followed our process and we will continue to apply the rules that our membership has voted on," said Jordan Abney,executive director for BCSS.

'It's been going on forever'

Former high school basketball champion and current basketball trainer Pasha Bainsdidn't want to speak specifically about this case, but said the BCSS rules exist because parents' eagerness to include their kids on the best sports teams has been a long-standing issue.

"It's been going on forever in high school sports where kids move to a magnet school and try to uproot their life for a better basketball program," he said.

"What usually happens in these kinds of cases is another rival high school makes a complaint."

Bains points out that the basketball team at McMathmay have come in second place last year, but its star players were seniors leaving the team with a roster of younger players.

The Province's pre-season high school rankingsdon't even include McMath in the top 10 for this season.

As for her future prospects, if Lyric doesn't make the Brookswood team, Bains said it's not a total write-off because she also plays with a separate club for elite players her age that plays year-round, B.C. Elite.

"She will lose some but it's not the end of the world if she's not allowed to play," he said.

"Basketball is a year-round sport now, and these kids get scouted more in the summertime in these big ...events so she won't miss out in the scouting as much."

The judge has ordered B.C. Sports to review the case and to allow Lyric to compete on the Brookswood team until the matter is resolved or the school year ends.

CBC News contacted the family, but they declined to comment while the matter is before the courts.

With files from Karin Larsen