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Letter: Nelson Regional Sports Council voices concern

Letters to the editor
By Letters to the editor
April 19th, 2022

To The Editor:

Open letter to the Community

Hello.

We the Nelson Regional Sports council —  a volunteer board advocating for sport in our community — are submitting this information to the community as a whole via news outlets and directly to the Recreation 5 commission set up by RDCK (Regional District of Central Kootenay) and the Cities of Nelson and Castlegar. 

NRSC, as the voice of sport in our region, have been ignored by the Rec 5 commission and the municipalities thus far as to have any of the recommendation put forward by the task force paid for by the tax dollars of the community.  To ensure this lack of progress ends we are formally requesting a voice and a permanent seat on the Rec commission 5 to allow NRSC the opportunity to offer an informed directive representing the user groups made up of mainly volunteers representing sports in our region. 

This position or seat on the commission will allow collaboration between the RDCK and municipalities and offer insight and balance from the user groups and hopefully stop the bureaucracy and finger pointing as to how any decisions are funded that has stalled or derailed the process for many years if not decades. 

We strongly urge each governing body to accept this offer to improve and support our elected officials in finding common ground between the governing bodies of the RDCK and the municipal groups in developing strong leadership with policy directives and access to the co-managed facilities for all user groups while ensuring recognition of all sports groups and there volunteer boards.

The NRSC and those in attendance have decided upon this directive on April 11, 2022 at an open forum planning session for return to sport post COVID hosted by NRSC. 

Each member of the Recreation commission 5 was invited to attend along with all sporting associations and sport groups in the region. 

Sadly the representatives of Recreation 5 commission either declined via email or chose not to attend without declining except for two.

The invites were posted and promoted over the course of several weeks in the local papers while being emailed directly to each of the Recreation 5 commission and other associations.

The Nelson Regional Sports Council would like to thank each of the following for either attending or responding with positive insights and feedback or declining.

  • Nelson Nordic Ski Club             
  • Nelson minor Baseball                    
  • Tom Newell RDCK
  • Nelson Curling Club                  
  • The Kootenay Swim Club               
  •  Keith Paige NCC
  • Nelson Skating Club                  
  • Whitewater ski team                      
  • Nelson Neptune’s                      
  • Glacier Gymnastics
  • Nelson Beach Volleyball            
  • Kootenay Chaos track and Field
  • West Kootenay Lacrosse Nelson soccer association
  • Castlegar minor Hockey             
  • Nelson Dance umbrella
  • Nelson minor Hockey                
  • Nelson reflections Synchronized Swimming
  • Nelson Boxing Club                  
  • Nelson Hoops

The Board of the Nelson Regional Sports Council: Alex Ulaszonek, David McCulloch, Barbara Brych, Kristina Little, Sarah Gower.

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