Basketball: RMC women's team forfeits games

The RMC Paladins women's team have forfeited weekend games vs. nationally ranked Western and Windsor "due to a number of injuries and institutional academic restrictions," according to a press release. So much for the momentum gained by ending that 128-game OUA losing streak last season.

One does wonder if this is just a random instance or an indication of some deeper troubles.. The Paladins roster on the OUA website lists only nine players and only eight were listed for their last game vs. Waterloo on Saturday. All it would take is a couple of injuries and a couple of cadets with exams that couldn't be switched to put them in this situation. At the same time, when a team has that few players and is 1-136 in OUA play since joining the league, people will wonder what's up.

No one has or will ever question the heart of Paladins athletes (and who didn't cheer when they finally won?). Varsity sports come a distant third to academics and military life at RMC and there has to be commitment to the teams from the school, and if memory serves there has been grumbling about special treatment, so-called, for athletes. RMC also has to field a women's team in order to have a men's team. It's complicated.

Regardless, it's unfortunate. A commenter notes Queen's, who is paired with RMC in the OUA schedule, is put out by the cancellation. The deal in the OUA (at least before Christmas) is that any team playing its second game of the weekend is playing a team which is in the same boat. Queen's will play Windsor on Friday and then have to play Western, which should be fresh as daisies after having a free night.

(Thanks to the Western Gazette for the tip.)
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11 comments:

  1. Doesn't affect Western or Windsor, but it does affect Queen's, who now has to play an opponent who did not compete the day before.

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  2. I would use the term "compete" guardedly when it comes to taking on a team like the RMC women.
    It's not like RMC was going to knock the stuffing out of either team anyway.
    The only negative impact I could see playing RMC prior to facing Queen's is a certain amount of laziness and complacency setting in.
    Otherwise, the difference between playing RMC the night before facing Queen's or not is pretty much negligible.

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  3. ... and how long the RMC will keep that coach who has 1-136 record.

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  4. Rumour around Kingston has it that the coach actually cut a player mid-season. Who is this guy and what could he possibly be thinking...?

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  5. Isn't it about time for RMC to graciously bow out of CIS basketball competition?
    It's not only the fact that both men and women's teams lose virtually every game,
    but the fact they lose by 40-50 points a game on average.
    I mean, how good is it for morale to say nothing of public image for your basketball teams to get torn a new one every friggin' night?
    Things were respectable for a while with Craig Norman and Kevin Dulude.
    In five years with Dulude, the Paladins actually won over 30 games...amazing, really.
    Alas, since he graduated they are 1-92 with little hope of significant improvement.
    Before returning to the CIS after more than a decade away in 2000, the Paladins competed in the OCAA.
    They didn't fare especially well in the college ranks but at least there were a few teams they could handle.
    I think it's high time RMC returned to the OCAA.
    The odds of finding another Dulude is extremely remote.
    It's time for them to cut bait and look for another fishing hole.

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  6. Why don't we make it a fair playing field and insist that all members of all teams carry a full course load and maintain academic excellence.

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  7. Are you saying that RMC is not competitive because they insist their student athletes carry a full course load and maintain their grades, while other schools don't?
    I think it's far more fundamental than that.
    Simply put, most ballers are not interested in a military career.
    The tuition is free, the textbooks are free, the housing is free at RMC...what a great deal, eh?
    The catch?
    A five year commitment to the Canadian military upon graduation.
    Most of the top players in Canada, with one glorious exception, will pass on this offer.
    That is the dilemma RMC faces.
    When it comes to the recruiting game, RMC is beaten before it starts.
    RMC is not like the old Central Red Army of the USSR, where the Army team got the pick of the litter for athletes in all sports.
    We're a democracy, you see.
    RMC suffers by comparison to the American military academies, too.
    Army, Navy, Air Force...while none are national contenders they are at least respectable.
    And every once in a while they attract a top drawer athlete like a Roger Staubach or David Robinson.
    Up here...not so much.
    Honestly, I don't see how things are ever going to change.

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  8. True story: until a week ago, the only thing a friend of mine (from outside Ontario, granted) knew about RMC was that "they suck at basketball." Needless to say, there's much more to the institution than losing by 40 points.

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  9. I believe what this team needs at least is a new coach. you'd think if you had a 1-136 you'd want to resign. How long are they willing to let this guy stick around?

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  10. Anon 7:38....Again, you are missing the point.
    RMC has a tremendous disadvantage when it comes to recruiting, as I pointed out in an earlier post.
    Quite simply, top calibre basketball recruits coming out of our nations HS's, be they male or female, simply are not interested in pursuing a military career.
    Period.
    In order to be enrolled at RMC, you must make a commitment to the military once your academic career is over.
    Capiche?
    It's pointless to compare RMC to any other university in Canada because a military college is completely different from any other post secondary institution we have in this country.
    So who the coach is probably matters little.

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  11. Whoever put up the last post needs to get their facts straight before putting their words down. Yes RMC has a recruiting disadvantage. However, there are MANY different ways to attend RMC and a post-graduate military commitment (approx. 1 year to serve for every year of education) is only one of them. You can attend RMC as a reservist or an interest student with NO service requirements after graduation.

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