By Greg Hoekstra
An Ottawa basketball hotspot could be shut down if players fail to meet rules of conduct and appease local residents.
In response to community pressure, basketball players at St. Luke’s Park on Elgin Street will be closely watched by city officials next season.
“Certainly, we don’t want to remove the nets unless all else fails and we can’t control the behaviour of players,” says Somerset Coun. Diane Holmes.
Instead, the city will post a code of conduct next spring prohibiting swearing, drinking, and what Holmes calls “anti-social behaviour.”
St. Luke’s has been Ottawa’s most popular basketball court for more than a decade, and occasionally draws competitors from Toronto, Montreal, and around New York.
Every Sunday, dozens fill the park to engage in what some consider the city’s most professional level of basketball, but the intensity of the games has local residents worried.
“Some people look at the arguing and think it will lead to something big, but that’s just a matter of people playing basketball . . . it’s a heated game,” says Makur Shayok, a 12-year veteran of the court.
Holmes says the problem extends beyond simple arguments.
“They seem to get caught up in the tension of the minute and the language being used is totally unacceptable.”
She says players have been found drinking in cars, and one park user reported an incident of harassment.
“That’s not true…what she’s saying is not true,” says Shayok. He says the games are taken so seriously that no competitor would dare drink, and players practice “decency” with all park patrons.
This leads the players to question the motives of angry residents, and some feel there may be a racial element at play.
“I think some people just aren’t comfortable when they see a group of black people in the same spot,” says Shayok.
Holmes can’t speak for individual residents, but insists her personal motives have nothing to do with race.
“The players say this is all racist . . . my position is that this has nothing to do with race,” she says. “I don’t care what colour they are, I am only interested in making sure the park is safe for everyone.”
But Pamela Walker, a daily visitor of the park with her young daughter, says she has never witnessed anything that would make her feel unsafe.
“I honestly cannot understand why it bothers anybody,” she says. “I’ve seen them actually stop games when children or others were walking past . . . that’s something a lot of people wouldn’t do.”
Walker says it’s outrageous for residents to expect players to pick up and leave.
“I think some people have an over-inflated sense of their rights as homeowners. They want the perfect little park with the perfect little everything.”
Sean Darcy, founder of the Ottawa Peace Kitchen, says he agrees that residents should have expected some level of noise and traffic in the park.
“If they bought a house downtown across from a basketball court, what did they think was going to go on there?” he says.
Darcy’s kitchen operates from the park’s pavilion every Sunday, which means patrons and volunteers – many of whom are seniors – must co-exist with the players on a weekly basis.
“There is no problem with them at all,” he says. “They even had a barbecue to try and get more community involvement.”
Darcy also says he hears very minimal cursing and has never witnessed any drinking or harassment.
“I’m here every Sunday and there’s never any problems . . . they really do check themselves.”
Though community turnout was low at this month’s barbecue, a second is planned for next spring, giving the community and players another chance to meet face to face.
Holmes says she hopes that the barbecue and newly developed code of conduct will alleviate tension next spring.
“Now that there is a clearer understanding of what is expected on the court perhaps we won’t have this kind of problem next year.”