There will come a time when Calgarians are able to leave their homes and — hopefully — get back to something resembling their normal routines pre-COVID-19.
Nobody knows when that day will be, but Calgary’s minor sports organizations are trying to make sure they’re ready.
Across the city, minor sports leagues have cancelled or postponed their seasons, their tournaments, or both in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some have offered refunds while others have offered credits.
It’s entirely unclear when they’ll be able to resume normal operations. For now, the focus is squarely on offering Calgarians a place to participate in sports and get active, whenever it’s safe to do so.
“I keep thinking that kids need to play, coaches need to coach and parents need to cheer,” said Susan Cress, executive director of Calgary Minor Soccer .
“The best thing youth sports groups can be doing is continue to be planning and understanding that this outdoor year is going to look different from what other outdoor sports (seasons) have looked like in the past, but we all just have to roll with it.”
Calgary Minor Soccer is taking its cues from Alberta Health Services. There won’t be any games or practices until health and government officials say they’re allowed.
The same is true for many sports organizations around the city. The Calgary Sport and Social Club is providing information on whether leagues and tournaments are cancelled at a minimum of two weeks in advance and providing full refunds if seasons are cancelled.
At Hockey Calgary , more than half of teams had wrapped up their 2019-20 schedules by the time the rest of the season was cancelled on March 13. As of now, Hockey Calgary’s plan is to be dropping pucks to start normal season schedules in the fall, assuming it’s safe to do so at that time.
“Our programs aren’t drastically affected at this point in time because we were just finishing up our season,” said Kevin Kobelka, the executive director of Hockey Calgary. “We’re at a point where we’re continuing to plan as if we’ll be starting in the fall. We want to make sure that kids have hope and know the team they love is going to be there when this is all done.”
It’s largely summer sports leagues and organizations that are most impacted right now. The Calgary North West Little League Baseball Association had player evaluations planned for late-March and were scheduled to begin its seasons at the end of April.
That’s obviously not happening, and while directives from Little League Canada currently allow for activities to resume May 11, that could change.
The Calgary organization has committed to paying an outside contractor to maintain baseball diamonds regardless of whether the season resumes and are working with Absolute Baseball Domes to find a way forward with evaluations if they can be rescheduled.
“So have to come up with a gameplan to make sure teams are equitable for the season and everybody has fun,” said Bernie Dowhan, the president of North West Little League.
The situation is no different at WinSport , where programs and spring skiing throughout the month of April have been cancelled, with credits offered to those affected. Winsport will be making a decision about programs in May as the situation evolves, and are already having to consider options for summer camps and the mountain biking season.
With no clear end-date in sight for the COVID-19 epidemic, staff at WinSport are having to consider any and all options.
“We’re going to have to play — us and all the other sport organizations are going to have to play a key role as we come out of this, from the mental and physical aspects of getting back to normal,” said Dale Oviatt, the manager of communications at WinSport. “With all our Calgarians cooped up, it’s going to be important that we do everything we can do to help people get active and outside.
“It’s a matter of when. If we knew an exact date when everything would be back to normal, then it would be a little easier from our perspective, in terms of summer camps, we’ve been thinking ‘OK, what if we’re able to resume operations on July 1? What if it’s July 15?’ and we basically come up with all these contingency options based on the time when things get back to normal.”
Twitter: @DannyAustin_9
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