He took his best shot, but Trevor Bast has been shut out in his attempt to bring the hockey program at Thompson Rivers University back to life.
As Bast learned in a Thursday, Dec. 4 conference call, the university has no interest in re-opening the debate.
Bast, who has spearheaded a group called Revive TRU Hockey since the university announced earlier this year it would no longer support the team, spoke with athletics director Ken Olynyk, president Alan Shaver and vice-president of administration and finance Matt Milovick.
Bast summarized the 30-minute call by saying there was “no interest in bringing back the hockey team.”
“I don’t think they ever did [have interest],” Bast said. “Based on their comments, I think all of my energies with them have all been in vain.
“But, not my efforts in creating interest in the team in general.”
The group took to Twitter on Friday, Dec. 5, posting some of the following comments.
Bast has not yet given up on the program and said he will now explore operating it as a campus club, which would still allow it to compete in the B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League.
He continues to aim for a fall 2015 start, but he knows that if the team isn’t operational by February or March, it will miss out on the recruiting season.
Despite still having options, Bast said he was disappointed with the university’s decision. He feels the group put too much emphasis on the problems of the past.
When the program was nixed in July, an unsustainable financial model was cited as the club’s main issue.
Bast said academic, behavioural and general operational issues were also of concern.
“I can’t reverse history. What happened happened and that’s their experience and I can’t tell them they’re wrong in that regard,” he said.
“I think when you have three people against one little guy like me, I wasn’t going to persuade them. The only chance we really had was if any of those three people had a passion for hockey and none of them do.
“I didn’t have a hockey advocate amongst the group or, obviously, anywhere within the university, that had any say.”
Olynyk told KTW the athletics department wasn’t in a position to support the team, so there was no value in reopening the issue with university support.
Even if the team is operated at arm’s length from the university, the athletics department still ends up fielding calls, making bookings and carrying out other operational duties.
And, right now, there’s no appetite in heading back down that road.
“At this point, I don’t see us, athletics, taking it on,” Olynyk said. “I’m not saying that in five years that won’t change but, right now no, I don’t see us taking it on.”
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