Soccer team ‘parts ways’ with girl who opposed sponsorship deal

[tarnado1555362291]

Soccer team ‘parts ways’ with girl who opposed sponsorship deal with salmon-farming company

http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/girls-soccer-team-sidelined-after-feud-over-fish-farming-sponsor-draws-flurry-of-media-attention

VANCOUVER — A soccer club on northern Vancouver Island has red-carded a 14-year-old girl, barring her from playing on an elite team in a dispute about a sponsorship deal with a salmon-farming company.

The Upper Island Riptide club announced Thursday it could not reconcile its differences with Freyja Reed and, as a result, had “parted ways” with the teen goalkeeper.

Freyja and her mother, Anissa Reed, who live in Comox, B.C., oppose open net-pen salmon farming and have been at odds with the club over a sponsorship deal announced in August with Marine Harvest Canada, one of the world’s largest salmon-farming companies.

Riptide spokesman Sean Arbour said there was a “hiccup” with the Reeds over the club’s code of conduct and the mother and daughter had been warned.

“I wish there was a manual that they gave you when you started volunteering that, ‘hey, you might need to deal with this one day,’ but there isn’t,” he said.

‘It never occurred to me that it was going to be such a contentious issue’

Jason Elligott of BC Soccer said the team’s play had come to a halt over parents’ concerns about media coverage of the dispute.

“Media were showing up at the field of play, trying to interview players on the team, and the parents of those players didn’t want their children to be exposed to that,” he said.

A club news release said the decision to give the goalkeeper the boot was “collective” and based on feedback from other players, families and volunteers.

Anissa Reed said she was outraged, noting she was informed by email around the same time the news release was issued.

Marine Harvest spokesman Ian Roberts declined to comment on the decision.

Commercial fishermen gathered on Thursday at the Comox fisherman’s wharf in support of the teenager.

The United Fishermen and Allied Workers Union, numerous seafood companies and individual fishermen said they would present the girl with a trust fund so she could continue to play soccer without any sponsorship issues.

Willie Mitchell, a salmon-farming opponent and member of the NHL’s Florida Panthers, had offered to sponsor the team himself in a Tuesday tweet.

Reed said she and Freyja moved to Comox so her daughter could play competitive soccer but learned about the sponsorship deal in August, months after tryouts for the under-15 team.

Arbour said the teen can still play soccer in Comox or with a similar program in Nanaimo, which is 114 kilometres to the south, but if the behaviour continues, she can be “terminated” from participating in any soccer north of the town of Ladysmith up to Campbell River.

“It never occurred to me that it was going to be such a contentious issue,” he said.

Reed said she is going to move as soon as possible, even though her business is struggling and she expects to take a big financial hit.

“I am dedicated to my daughter,” she said. “It’s just her and me, and I wanted her to succeed in soccer because that’s where her heart is, that’s all she wanted to do. She just wanted to play soccer without having to play for Marine Harvest.”

[The Ref]

The Upper Island Riptide club seems more concern about the money from sponsors than the girls soccer.  I hope the community causes the club narrow minded directors to be booted out.

[AvroArrow]

I've read some of the other news stories posted on this and it seems the lone player on the team who was opposed to the sponsorship was Anissa Reed.  I have no problem with her quest to get salmon farming banned; its a free country and she is more than welcome to protest the actions of a corporation.  However, it seems that her protesting is now effecting her teammates, who don't seem that bothered by the sponsorship and are now being hounded by the media.  None of her teammates asked for this, nor does it appear they are interested in joining Anissa's movement.

It would seem that for the good of the team, if she has a moral problem with the sponsorship, then she should quit the team and find a different place to play.  Right now it seems she wants to have her cake and eat it too. 

[ted]

This has been all over local news for what seems like weeks now.

As a player on the team she should be keeping her mouth shut and accepting with grace the compromise they offered her.

She is entitled to her opinion but she is not entitled to play on that team.

 

[CrossCheck]

hard to believe this story made national media. The parent and player are so far out of line it is ridiculous. Don't like club policy, then move to a new club. Want to change club policy, then run for the board. The sense of entightlement shown by the parent/player and the eagerness of the media to pick it up is alarming.

 

[The Ref]

Riptide Club trying to impose a gag order on the family beliefs.  What happened with freedom of expression?

http://www.campbellrivermirror.com/news/338906212.html

 

[CrossCheck]

they have the freedom to go play with a club that shares their beliefs.

 

[ted]

What happened with freedom of expression?

What happened to not being hypocrites? You cannot take sponsorship money and then turn around and bad-mouth the sponsor.

Freedom of expression was never an issue. Freedom of expression is not freedom from consequences. She was told she was free to express any opinion she liked so she did. The team exercised their right to kick her off the team. She can now play for any team she likes and express all the opinions she wants.

 

[The Ref]

Fish farming wins at the end.

http://www.campbellrivermirror.com/news/340242821.html