There will be no university soccer season for the UNBC Timberwolves men’s and women’s teams in fall term of 2020 and the opening tip-off of the T-wolves’ basketball season will be delayed until January.
In a unanimous vote of 17 member universities, the U SPORTS Canada West Conference announced Monday there will be no conference competition in soccer, football, women’s rugby 15s and women’s field hockey and the fall seasons of all those varsity sports has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Acting on the recommendations of Canada West’s COVID-19 Task Force, the conference will delay the start of its two-term sports – basketball, hockey and volleyball until the start of January, three months later than the usual season start.
“The challenging nature of today’s announcement can’t be understated,” said Canada West president and University of Victoria athletic director Clint Hamilton, in a prepared statement. “As a former student-athlete and coach I feel deeply for everyone who won't be able to experience the joys of university competition this fall.
“While cancellation isn’t the outcome anyone associated with university sport wanted, I’m confident in the fact that this difficult decision is in the best interests of our student-athletes. Health and safety is at the forefront of everything we do and, simply put, there was no way to adequately ensure the safety of everyone involved in university sport during competition this fall.”
The conference, which includes member postsecondary schools in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba - will announce on June 15 whether championships in golf, cross country and swimming will happen this year.
The future of the upcoming seasons for hockey, basketball and volleyball, as well as university wrestling, track and field, curling and women’s rugby 7s will be decided by Oct. 8
The decision to cancel the T-wolves soccer season affects 29 players on the men’s team and 32 on the women’s team. Student-athletes will not lose a season of eligibility and will remain eligible for financial aid through scholarships.
“The Canada West Task Force presented a very thorough recommendation report to all the athletic directors,” said UNBC director of athletics and recreation, Loralyn Murdoch. “The committee had representation from each CW province, expert medical professionals, therapists, and members of the board. The report as presented had unanimous support for the cancellation of fall sports and the postponement of winter sports until early Jan 2021.
“The health and safety of our student athletes and staff is of the upmost importance. My heart goes out to our UNBC soccer players and coaches with this announcement. We are committed to delivering a high-performance training program via various safe and approved platforms in preparation for when the restrictions lift and we are able to compete again.”
Monday’s announcement follows similar fall season cancellations in Ontario University Athletics, Atlantic University Sport and U SPORTS.
U SPORTS medical committee member Steve Martin, a sports medicine physician in Victoria, said there was no way to guarantee the safety of the teams and that left no choice but to cancel the fall seasons. While professional sports have the resources to put protocols in place to create alternate playing conditions designed to protect the athletes and minimize the risk of spreading the virus, those options are not available to university teams operating on limited budgets.
“The Task Force undertook significant discussion and research to inform our recommendations with public health considerations, specifically minimizing risk for both individual participants and the general public, at the core of our work,” said Martin.
“By and large, sport competition provides a high-risk environment for the transmission of COVID-19. While other areas of society continue to mitigate risk through new guidelines, sport provides a challenge in this regard as any risk mitigation would render many sports unrecognizable.”
