A major track-and-field meet for Surrey high school students has been cancelled and other sporting events risk the same fate as more B.C. teachers withdraw from voluntary activities, including coaching, to protest a law intended to end their contract dispute.

Around the province, student athletes are on tenterhooks as they wait for teachers to vote later this month on a mass protest plan, which was drafted by their union and recommends all members stop extracurricular activities to signal their unhappiness with Bill 22.

BC School Sports, which governs sporting competitions, said it is “business as usual� until ballots are counted after the April 17-18 vote organized by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation.

“We are going forward as best we can,� executive director Sue Keenan said Tuesday.

But she acknowledged some disruptions are happening already, especially for track-and-field meets, which rely heavily on teacher-coaches. Union locals in more than a dozen school districts have already decided to quit extracurricular activities, in advance of the provincewide vote, and some teachers are taking individual action.

There are reports that Abbotsford-Mission district track meets have been cancelled, and provincial golfing championships in late May may also be lost. Keenan wasn’t able to identify every event that’s been affected, but said she knows certain areas of the province have experienced disruptions, including West Vancouver, Abbotsford, parts of Surrey, Kamloops and lower Vancouver Island.

“Those are the areas I know for sure where they’re feeling a bit more of the impact than other areas.�

The union says teachers have little choice but to withdraw from volunteer activities because the controversial bill prohibits any job action in schools during a six-month “cooling-off� period. But that’s little comfort for students involved in spring sports.

Jorden Best, a senior student who plays rugby at Robert Bateman secondary in Abbotsford, said he could understand if teachers decided at the start of the school year not to coach, but he doesn’t think it is fair for them to withdraw partway through.

“It’s kind of ruining the season, especially when you’re a Grade 12 guy and you want to get the full [experience],� he said in an interview.

So far, he and his teammates have been lucky because their teacher-coaches are promising to finish the year regardless of the outcome of the vote. “We have really committed coaches and they say they have tough skins,� he said. “[But] you can tell there’s a little bit of tension in the air.�

Four of seven teams have folded in the girls’ league, he added.

Around B.C., there are 35,000 student athletes involved in spring sports. Listed according to popularity, they are: track-and-field, girls soccer, rugby, badminton, golf, tennis and mountain biking. Golf is one of the sports that relies heavily on teacher-coaches, which is the reason Keenan said the provincial championships that start May 27 may be in trouble.

Teachers represent 58 per cent of high-school coaches, but that includes independent schools, which aren’t affected by the job action. The remaining 42 per cent are community coaches, many of whom are parents of student athletes.