Fight club condemned across the board | Alaska Highway News

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DAVID BELL PHOTO

Clint Parker, an MMA coach at Iron Rhino, says training and education are the only ways to ensure that kids are not seriously injured when engagingin combat.

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A recent string of heavily-or-ganized UFC-style fightsarranged near, but not on,North Peace Secondary School(NPSS) property has officialsscrambling to condemn theactivity.

Residents who live near theschool are making regular callsto police when a fight getsunderway because, at times, ahuge crowd is on hand to cheeron the fighters. The fights are

being posted to Youtube,money is said to be changing hands and in some extremecases, parents are willing spec-tators.

“The high school has report-ed that a group of youth havebeen fighting off of schoolgrounds on a regular basis,”said Const. Jackelynn Passarellof the Fort St. John RCMP.

“Homeowners in the areahave called police several timesabout these large fights that arehappening in the field behind

the high school. We have foundthat there is a group of studentsthat organize these fights, they have been going around thehigh school enlisting people tofight. They go off school prop-erty during school hours tohave the fight.

“Although these people arevolunteering, as far as weknow, they use MMA-stylegloves. They are surroundedby a large group of onlookers.It is disturbing to the residentsbecause they don’t want to seethese kids fighting. They are

asking us to do something about it. These are all studentsthat should be in school at thetime.”

Numerous videos of thefighting have been posted to Youtube.

“I have looked at some of these videos. It is a large groupof kids that form a circle andtwo youths go inside and fight.They take a break and thencontinue to punch each other,”Passarell said.

SEEFIGHTERSONA3•

condemnedcondemnedacrossacross thethe boardboard

DAVID BELLStaff Writer

Ethan Zentner, a nine-y e a r - o l d w h o a t t e n d s

hristian Life School, wasiagnosed with advancedtage 3 Hodgkin’s lymphoman June. This has required fre-uent trips to the BChildren’s Hospital in

Vancouver for chemotherapy

treatments.Some people at his schooldecided to do something forthe family.

“We are doing a walk andthen also selling ‘Footsteps’,that is where the fundraising comes in. They are availableat the school office for $5,”said Tamara Packer, an edu-cational assistant at theschool.

“There is also a trust fundset up at the North PeaceSavings and Credit Union.”

Packer said the family could really use a hand right

now.“The fundraising will go to

Ethan and his mother just tohelp out with all of their bills.She is a single mother whoowns her own business. When she is away with him a week at a time she cannot work so she is not bringing inan income. That has beenvery difficult for them so we just wanted to support them

in that way and see if wecould raise some money tohelp out with all the differentexpenses associated with it.”

When reached by phoneThursday following a chemotreatment, Ethan said he felt“really mucky and puky.”

He said his recent assess-ment was “good” and that helooks forward to returning home.

“I hope they are all doing good and they can expect tosee me soon,” was his mes-sage to his fellow students.

SEERECOVERY ONA5•

School ralliesaround boy

with cancer

Ethan enjoys some time at VanDusenBotanical Garden in Vancouver whiletaking a break from the hospital.

(Submitted Photo)

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PUBLISHED MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY INFORT ST. JOHN, B.C.

Fight clubFight club



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 – A3A laska Highway News – FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.

LOCAL NEWS

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CONT. FROMA1•

Regardless of where the fights aretaking place the RCMP have a numberof avenues to pursue charges, sheadded.

“There is an offence called ‘causing

a disturbance’. The people in housesaround there are disturbed by this big group of kids that are fighting andpunching each other in the face.”

Passarell said that while a personcan consent to enter a fight, they can-not consent to being injured.

“I have been involved in investiga-tions where people are punched once,fall down, crack their heads open andthey end up with brain injuries. Youcannot agree to that. We can proceed with criminal charges even thoughthey voluntarily went into the fight.”

The people cheering it on could becharged with abetting, she said.

She said schoolyard fights havealways gone on, however the level of organization in these fights inunusual.

“There is a proper place for thisunder correct supervision to makesure that nobody gets hurt. This is notthat place.”

One NPSS student said he wasapproached by a fight organizer.

“It was just a skinny dude that cameup to me and said, ‘Do you want tosign up for a fight.’ I said, ‘No, I don’tfight.’ The fighters were not getting money from it, but there were guysbetting on it. They go over to the hill,off school grounds. They are just con-senting fights. I think the cops are justgetting involved because of the bet-ting, not the fighting.”

Another student said the fights hap-pen regularly, but doesn’t seem awarethat charges could be made.

“They did it last year too. They arecalling it fight club. Last week it was

almost every day and in the first week of school. It is just boxing, they havegloves, so it is not illegal. They talkedto the cops about it already so no onecan legally get in trouble for it.”

The owner of a local MMA gym wasquick to condemn the bouts.

“I was blown away,” said Iron Rhinoowner Mat Alexander.

“I had heard rumours of kids doing that and I didn’t actually think it wasreally going down until I wasapproached by the police. Our rulesare, there is no fighting outside of ourclub and none of these kids that werecaught doing this were members hereat all.”

Some aspiring fighters have trainedat Alexander’s gym since it opened lastDecember, going on to professionalMMA fights in venues like King of the

Cage.“It is a sport if it is done properly,”

he said.He said he gets tough with people

who take the fight to the street.“You will be terminated as a mem-

ber of the gym if you are caught doing this type of fighting outside. We have azero tolerance for it. Even if we hear your name associated with it, you

won’t ever be a member here.”Larry Espe, superintendent of

School District 60, said it was a home-owner near the school that tipped off school officials to the activity.

“A neighbour phoned because they

saw kids doing what they thought wasboxing, they are wearing these gloves,but it turns out to be mixed martialarts stuff. I don’t think any of themhave been trained formally in it. Apparently they are tapping glovesand the whole thing.”

He said these fights are differentthan your typical schoolyard dust up.

“These are organized. They are notnecessarily even mad at each other, itis an exhibition. This is not sanc-tioned. Whether you agree with UFCor not, in these incidences it is notsanctioned, there is no referee, there isno medical help, there is no specifictraining. There is none of those things,so obviously we cannot condone it,”he said.

“We are going to do our part withthe RCMP to make sure that is doesn’thappen, as much as possible.”

Espe said the school has a range of consequences available to them, from warnings to suspensions, but thatevery case would be looked at individ-ually.

He said some of the fights havetaken place well off school property and with unexpected spectatorscheering them on.

“One of the concerns that we aregetting, is that they are not just doing this off school grounds. There havebeen incidents where they are insomebody’s backyard and they haveactually had parents as spectators.That is some of the feedback coming to us.”

Clint Parker has coached MMA fighters at Iron Rhino since it opened.

He said, unintentionally, he may have helped a 15-year-old train forone of the fights.

“On Tuesday a kid came in, he hadred hair and freckles, he was a niceenough kid. He was interested strictly in boxing. I said, ‘Come on in, I canteach you whatever you want.’ I get alot of new people and we work onbasic combos, some footwork. I hadhim working with one of my guys. Theclass ended. He said ‘this is great.’ Heeven paid for the membership andthen left,” Parker explained.

When Parker became aware that kid were organizing fights and posting them online, he began to review someof the footage.

“I came to work and we watched thevideos and I laughed about it. At first, Ithought this is brutal to watch, then it

blew me away that kids are actually organizing this. Half of those kids arenot even physically fit enough to bethere let alone the lack of training,” hesaid.

“We looked at all the kids in thevideo, we looked at faces. We couldnot recognize any of them. The only kid I found was this kid that came inthe other day. He came back

Wednesday after I had heard aboutthis. He was all kind of pumped. Hesaid, ‘Yeah, I won my boxing match. Iknocked the other kid out, it was awe-some.’ I asked him where the match was held. He said in the field besidethe school.

“I swore at him, I said ‘You are sostupid’. I explained to him the risk of disease, or injury. On so many levels itis bad. Then he actually tells me thatthey put money on it. ‘We have beendoing this for years,’ he says. We putmoney on it and the winner takes thepot. It is all good.”

Parker said the boy’s mother paidthe gym a visit.

“She came in Thursday morning and called us unprofessional, she wasmad at us, but then she condoned it.She said, ‘it has been going on for years, they put money on.’ She wasaware of it.”

He said fights like this, withouttraining or medical supervision, havehuge negative potential.

“What if one of these guys actually landed a haymaker and put the kiddown. I have seen it before, I haveseen broken orbital sockets, fractured jaws, terrible things, even concus-sions. If one of those kids had brainswelling, it would be two minutes that we have to get them to hospital forsome real care or God only knows.”

Ray Asai, NPSS principal, said theschool received numerous calls fromlocal and provincial media Thursday

morning following an RCMP pressrelease outlining the situation.

“We had actually approached theRCMP the day before because we hadheard of an incident. A student had afight on an iPod. One of the vice prin-cipals got the iPod, saw this fighting and so we contacted the RCMP.

“On Wednesday one of the neigh-bours at the bottom of the hill had

contacted the RCMP and said there isa group of students and it looked likethere was a fight but the kids had dis-banded by the time they got there,” hesaid.

“Between the two of us we were ableto piece it together.”

He said there could be an upcoming talk to students expressing that thereis a time and a place for this type of combat.

“Mat Alexander was just here talk-ing to our vice principal. He wouldlove to come in and do a presentationand we would support that whole-heartedly.”

Asai recognizes how children might

be influenced by the popularity of mixed martial arts.“UFC and MMA is a huge business

right now. It is a multi-million dollarbusiness. Kids are seeing and hearing how much money some of these guysare making and they think, ‘Well I amtough, I will build a reputation and I will make my millions of dollars being this tough guy.’ The reality is if you arenot trained properly you are going toget hurt. I think that is the message we want to send,” he said.

“If we can get that message outthere to kids and parents, that is what we want to do.”

Parker said if proper training andeducation is used, MMA can be a greatexperience.

“I want to educate these peoplebecause it is a sport that I love. I love

what I do and I would love to teachkids. We have seven or eight kids herethat are awesome and have a realfuture.”

He said more education is needed.“I would like to work with the police,

all the other martial arts places, have atown meeting and I will gladly call outany parents who want to explain tome how this is a good thing, or safe, or

okay.”The fight club was a new experience

to Parker, he said.“I was born and raised in this town

and I have seen fights, it happens. Butnever in my life have I ever seen itorganized or heard of people organiz-ing fights. I guess kids are too smartthese days, but it has to come to anend. They see it, they want to be it.Everybody wants to be a fighter but Idon’t think they know what it is toreally be one,” he said.

“What they are doing is not fighting.It is closer to a circus show that is dan-gerous.”

Asai said that students are mistaken

to believe that if something happensoff school property that they arerelieved of the consequences for it.

“As long as it is school time we stillhave some jurisdiction over you. As faras we are concerned you are still underschool jurisdiction even though youmight be off school property. Yes, wecan deal with you and if it meansinvolving the RCMP we will do that as well.”

He added that the onlookers can beheld accountable too.

“The only time we have fights is when there is an audience. If you arean audience member you are contrib-uting to that fight. We consider you aspromoting the fight.”

Passarell said consequences willapply.

“Nobody wants to get suspended,

but this is something the school mightbe looking at, suspending the people who are organizing and beinginvolved. When you punch someonein the face numerous times, they could get hurt. The residents are being disturbed by this. If we come uponthis fight and you are causing a distur-bance we are going to be arresting people.”

DAVID BELL PHOTO

Const. Jackelynn Passarell of the Fort St. John RCMP says criminal charges could apply to those who are fighting including orga-nizers and onlookers.

JAMIE WOODFORD

Staff Writer

British Columbia is leading the country in sur-gical wait times.

In hopes of being liberated from that title, theprovince announced Wednesday it will give $23.4million to health authorities across B.C. towardspatient-focused funding that aims to reduce waittimes for common surgeries.

The funding will allow hospitals to do thou-

sands more day surgeries, inpatient proceduresand MRI exams, specifically targeting patientswaiting for common procedures with the greatest

eed – such as, back and spine surgery, bladderurgery and hernia repair.

“These are areas with the most urgent needshat were identified by health authorities, basedpon the additional capacity they could manage,nd on what the wait lists were telling us acrosshe province,” said Health Minister Kevin Falcon,

who made the announcement.

He explained that the arrangements mean thehealth authorities will only be paid for the proce-dures that they perform.

With financial incentives versus block funding,health authorities should be able to increase theirservices and shift between in-patient services tosame-day surgical procedures where appropriate,thus reducing wait times in high demand areas.

The Dawson Creek and District HospitalFoundation (DCDHF) was pleased with theannouncement, but is not holding its breath over

whether it will see any of the money.“With the limited procedures we’re able to do

here, the bulk of the money would go to placesthat are already have those procedures in place,”said DCDHF Communications CoordinatorJerimy Earl.

“We’re happy for any additional funding, if itshows up. Until then we’ll just keep doing what we do, which is try and bridge the gap betweenthe funding we get and the funding we need.”

SEENEEDONA5•

B.C. gov't targeting

surgical wait times with more funding

Fighters could faceFighters could facesuspension, arrest,suspension, arrest,says RCMPsays RCMP



MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2010 – A5A laska Highway News – FORT ST. JOHN, B.C.

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CONT. FROM A3•

Falcon said the different approachto funding should help create a morecost-effective healthcare system.

“We’re not just handing these dol-lars over to the health authoritiesand hoping for the best in terms of outcome, we are actually buying and

purchasing specific outcomes andspecific performance,” he said.

“We cannot just throw moremoney into the system, do thingsexactly the same way and expect toget different results. That is the way of the past. It is not the way of thefuture.”

Health authorities will have accessto the money on top of their project-

ed budget increase of 15 per centover the next three years.

Falcon said an increase of up to33,000 more surgeries and proce-dures are expected across the prov-ince with this new funding.

Of the $23.4 million, $3 million will go towards MRI exams.

Falcon said the number of MRIexams is expected to go up by 14,000 with this money. A nearly 15 per centincrease. He added that, although 15MRI machines have been purchasedsince 2001, the province still has trou-ble meeting the demand for exams.

Falcon said the funding is in addi-tion to the $250 million that wasannounced in April.

Need to re-think how health caremoney is spent,

says FalconSTEWART BURNETT

Staff Writer

Inspired people can do beautifulthings when they get together, which issomething Rose-Ann Nichols is learn-ing on her journey to raise $20,000 forher Multiple Sclerosis treatment.

“You live your life thinking that you’reon your own,” she began, trying to putthe right words together to describe what’s happening in her life. “Whensomething really good like this happens,it really puts things into perspective.”

On September 14, the Dawson Creek

Daily News reported on her story, which was still in its beginning phases.The groundswell of community sup-port has grown hourly since then, asmore and more people in DawsonCreek unite to help a fellow resident inneed.

“I cannot stress this enough. I’m sohumble, and I’m so proud of this town,the people that have been helping me,the people that have donated. Peoplecare about it. I can’t even say it proper-ly,” she struggled, still searching for words that could encapsulate herfeelings.

Eventually, she found the words she was looking for.

“It blows my mind. Those are theperfect words. It blows my mind. I can’tbelieve how good people can be, andhow much they truly care.”

One person who has shown incredi-ble commitment to Nichols’s cause isTara Tom. She has no affiliation withNichol – having just met her at one of her fundraiser garage sales – but isgoing beyond the call of duty to help

her.“I thought, well, I’m going to use the

people I know, and I’m going to leteverybody know this lady needs somehelp, and we can all pull together andso something.”

She started a Facebook group called,In Support of Roseann Nichols.

“When I saw this thing on Facebook,I was bawling my eyes out,” admittedNichols. “I don’t think I’ve ever cried asmuch as in the last two months. Justthe things people have done, the peo-ple making donations. These people you think wouldn’t care – they do.”

The Facebook group has 112 mem-bers at this time of writing and hasalready organized two events, a bottledrive and a candle selling party.

Tom is still counting the bottles--about nine truckloads of them – and isusing her position with Gold Canyon tosell candles and host parties, with agenerous amount of the proceeds andher commission going towards Nichols.

“I reached out to help her becauseshe’s a sweet lady,” said Tom, explain-ing why she would donate so muchtime and money to a person she only just met.

“I also feel very blessed. My childrenand husband and I have been very blessed with good health, and I wouldonly hope that if we needed the helpand support of the community, that we would get it. We just have to kind of pay

it forward.”Tammy Schmidt, a longtime friend

of Nichols, hosted the Gold Canyoncandle party on Wednesday, Sept. 22 of this week.

“I want to do whatever I can to help

her, and Tara actually got a hold of meabout doing a fundraiser event, and itstarted with the bottles. I donated all of our bottles and got a hold of all of ourfriends to donate bottles. I’m a regular woman, and I love candles, so I thoughtit was a perfect way to help Rose-Ann,”she laughed.

“It’s really exciting,” she continued.“We’re trying to do everything we can,and it’s a great cause. There are lots of people out there that want to help,and we’re going to do everything wecan.”

The Nawican Friendship Centre is

hosting another garage sale forNichols on Saturday, Sept. 25. Nicholssaid people have been so generous with donating items that she has toomuch stuff, and probably enough forgarage sales right up until January, which is when she is scheduled to goto New York for her ChronicCerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency treatment.

Schmidt is also planning to hostanother Gold Canyon candle sale onNovember 2 and

Tom is looking for sellers to takeorders for candles. To find out more,email Tom at taratom_hotmail.com.

For now, Nichols is just spinning withpride in the “whirlwind of her life rightnow”, as she describes it. As support forher snowballs, Nichols is just enjoying the ride and thanking everyone

involved.“It just gets more and more and more

exciting. It seems like every time I turnaround, something new is happening.It’s just been amazing what people haveput together.”

STEWART BURNETT PHOTO

Rose-Ann Nichols has growing support in the Dawson Creek community for her journey to raise $20,000 for Multiple Sclerosistreatment. Tara Tom (back left) of Gold Canyon and Tammy Schmidt (back right) held a candle-selling fundraiser Wednesday,September 23, and are committed to helping her make it to her treatment.

Dawson Creek residentsunite to help MS patient

CONT. FROMA1•

His mother, Tanya Zentner, said they recently received some good news.

“His very last chemo is going to beOct. 21. He is technically in remissionnow, all the cancer cells are gone, but we have to keep doing chemo to makesure it doesn’t come back. It is some- where between every month-and-a-half and every three months for thefirst year that they fly us down for a week to do testing and make sure ithasn’t come back. After the first year itis every six months. Once someonehas had any type of cancer, the likeli-hood of getting it again is higher. Thatis where we are right now.”

When she learned of the school-driven walk and fundraiser, she saidshe was overwhelmed.

“I almost cried. I was not expecting that at all, it was totally awesome of them,” she explained.

“You kind of expect it from grand-parents and close family members, butfor people who don’t know you very well, for them to be moved enough tomake such a big event just for us, it isvery touching.”

She said the generosity of this com-munity, in this event and others, hasbeen incredible.

“I have been missing so much work.Our life savings and emergency cush-ion is now gone. We have been living off grants and help from families, sothis is going to help. The Fort St. John& District Chamber of Commerce sur-prised us and did some fundraising foran iPad,” she said.

“It is difficult for Ethan to carry a whole bunch of books because of theimplants in his chest and with the sur-geries and biopsies. His shoulders getsore. To carry all of the school books would be really hard. His teacher nowsend him school work by email, he fillsit out and sends it back. It is superlight, about two pounds so it doesn’t

hurt him.”Packer said the walk is to let Ethan

know that there are people that careabout and miss him.

“We feel like a real family here. When one is sick or there is some-thing going on, we want to rally around them and support them in whatever way we can. That is our goal.Our goal is encouraging him and thatis really important, but also to helpraise the funds because it is a very expensive and difficult time for them.That can add more stress to an already difficult situation.”

Generosity hasbeen incredible,

says mom

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Fight club condemned across the board | Alaska Highway News