The decision confirms no championships for varsity sports
Though they initially stated that their decision potentially could be made during the later months of the year, U Sports, along with all of its conferences, has confirmed their position on second-term sports this season: the group has decided to cancel championships for second-term sports for 2020-21.
The decision means that UFV’s basketball and volleyball teams will not have standard seasons this year. The decision also affects club teams such as rugby and wrestling, which is no doubt disappointing to many considering that the decision was moved after players communicated to the board of directors of Canada West that they would like more time for the decision to see if active cases of COVID-19 went down. The decision was only delayed by approximately one week.
In light of the cancellation, athletics programs will have to find new ways to compete should they decide to keep their teams active this season. UFV’s golf and soccer teams have started playing exhibition matches, which likely will be common for most, if not all, of UFV’s varsity sports teams. Two players for UFV’s women’s basketball team signed to professional teams overseas earlier in the season to ensure they could stay active during the break from conference play. However, some sports have not yet had their seasons cancelled, such as the baseball team, which begins in the spring and competes under the Canadian Collegiate Baseball League.
Steve Tuckwood, the director of athletics and campus recreation at UFV commented on the decision.
“While it is disappointing to reach this conclusion on the regular season and playoffs, I do think it allows us to now pivot and focus on exhibition games and some competition for all of the teams. We have a strong group of schools in B.C. who I am confident will work collectively for the good of the athletes,” Tuckwood said.
