CCAA cancels Winter Championships - Oct 21, 2020 The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), upon direction and feedback from member conferences, has made the difficult decision to cancel all winter CCAA Championships due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The decision was made in response to the sport restrictions that are in place across the country, the variety of provincial health restrictions CCAA hosts were facing and the limitations effecting travel of teams across the country. 'One of our guiding principles during the pandemic has been the safety of our student-athletes and our decision to cancel the winter championships was made with this in mind,' said Vince Amato, CCAA President. 'We know that the disappointment is being felt by everyone in the CCAA right now, but without an indication of the situation greatly improving, we feel that our decision, while not an easy one, is the right one.' Sports affected by this decision include: Badminton, Men's Volleyball, Women's Volleyball, Men's Basketball and Women's Basketball. Last month, the 2021 CCAA/Curling Canada Championship was cancelled and in June, the CCAA announced the cancellation of its four Fall National Championships, which included Golf, Men's Soccer, Women's Soccer and Cross-Country Running. 'The CCAA has been in collaboration with its member conferences and hosts since the onset of COVID-19, and while National Championships have been suspended for the 2020-21 season, the CCAA and its member institutions will continue to engage our student-athletes, coaches and administrators in education, hybrid contests and community support,' said Sandra Murray-MacDonell, CCAA Chief Executive Officer. The CCAA would like to acknowledge the tremendous efforts put forward by our 2020-21 hosts in anticipation of hosting this season, with the hope that they will be willing to host in the near future. Courtesy of ccaa.ca OCAA announces cancellation of 2020-21 winter varsity season - Oct 15, 2020 The Ontario Colleges Athletic Association (OCAA) and its members announced today the difficult decision to cancel sanctioned varsity sports competition planned for the 2021 winter semester at the OCAA's 27 member schools. The decision was made in response to the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and the sport restrictions that are in place in the Province of Ontario. Sports affected by the cancelation of the 2021 OCAA varsity sports winter schedule include badminton, basketball, curling, indoor soccer and volleyball. "The health of the entire OCAA membership and our participants remains our top priority, and we empathize, understand, and share the deep disappointment this especially causes for our winter sport student-athletes," said OCAA President, Nathan McFadden. "After extensive contingency planning and collaborating with our members, the reality is that there are far too many obstacles to allow the OCAA to operate while providing a safe and quality varsity experience for our student-athletes." The OCAA made this difficult but necessary decision based on a number of factors, which are not limited to the following. The restrictive measures in place by the provincial sport regulatory bodies as well as orders from Public Health do not allow for regular sanctioned competition to take place for a provincial sports conference. Additionally, this decision is due to the members continued provision of a hybrid academic delivery model for the 2021 winter semester, thereby minimizing the number of students and staff on campuses in order to reduce the potential spread of COVID-19. After careful analysis and collaboration with key stakeholders, the OCAA is making this decision now to allow our student-athletes time to make their own informed academic decisions in advance of the January 2021 semester. Although there will not be sanctioned varsity competition this winter, sport and fitness continue to be an integral part of the collegiate experience. Some OCAA member schools may still allow for unofficial sports opportunities in their facilities within the parameters set forth by governing sports organizations and local health officials. These decisions will be made at the institutional level. "The OCAA will return stronger from this due to our current strategic initiatives that are already underway," said McFadden. "The future viability of our sports are going to be more important than ever before to enhancing the post-secondary educational experience and we look forward to uniting our student-athletes, campuses and communities together in sport." Courtesy of OCAA ACAA winter semester sports canceled - Dec 2, 2020 After consultations with athletics directors and deliberation among the presidents of its member institutions, the Atlantic Collegiate Athletic Association (ACAA) has canceled the regular season and championships for the remainder of the 2020-21 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. However, the ACAA will allow member driven competition for the upcoming winter semester subject to public health directives. The decision not to proceed with conference play and championships was made in response to the changing situation and restrictions in the individual provinces and across the region. In a conference call yesterday, the presidents of the ACAA institutions agreed that a prudent response to the current situation was to cancel conference competition for men's and women's basketball and volleyball and badminton. 'From the outset, with our first priority being the safety of our students, we knew that current public health conditions and directives would be the primary determinant in our decision and that any competitions could be cancelled in the event of a new or worsening outbreak of the COVID-19 virus in our region. Unfortunately, that has proven to be the case.' said William Lahey, President and Vice Chancellor, University of King's College who chaired the meeting. Michael Eagles, Athletic Director at St. Thomas University and President of the ACAA, said that similar to Atlantic University Sport, the ACAA has left the door open for member driven play as determined by individual institutions and subject to public health directives and approved return to play plans for each sport. Even though the ACAA fall season was cancelled, teams have been training through the fall semester and playing exhibition games, in compliance with public health directives. If member driven competition is feasible, it would be in the window of late January to mid-March. Courtesy of acaa.ca PACWEST Cancels Winter Competition - Nov 18, 2020 The Pacific Western Athletic Association (PACWEST) has announced the cancellation of basketball and volleyball sports for the 2021 Winter season. After considerable deliberation, the PACWEST Executive Board unanimously decided to cancel the Winter 2021 sports season for basketball and volleyball. 'This was a difficult decision. said Jake McCallum, President, PACWEST. 'However, our priority is to ensure the health, safety and well-being of member institution's student-athletes, coaches, athletics programs, and their surrounding communities.' Based on the ongoing developments of the pandemic, the unique geography of the conference, coupled with the regional specific Provincial Health Officer (PHO) guidelines; the PACWEST made the decision that was best for the conference. Despite the challenges, the PACWEST remains committed to provide quality athletic opportunities to enhance the overall educational experience of our student-athletes. Courtesy of pacwestbc.ca The RSEQ cancels winter sports' seasons - Oct 27, 2020 For sports like basketball, having no season will be a challenging first experience Student-athletes face a new challenge due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it will be a tough one to overcome: they cannot play. The government announced in early October that all team sports were cancelled in the province of Quebec. The cancellation came right in the heat of and in response to the pandemic's second wave. Then, the Reseau du sport etudiant du Quebec (RSEQ) announced that it was cancelling winter sports until at least Jan. 15, affecting Concordia's teams directly. When the Stingers men's basketball team head coach Rastko Popovic initially heard the RSEQ announcement, he said wasn't surprised, especially with similar situations going on everywhere else across Canada. 'I think Quebec is still delaying it just to give it a chance in case the situation cools,' Popovic said. 'As sad as I am for our student-athletes and for everybody not being able to have a league, it probably is the best decision.' Without CEGEP games to watch, coaches have had to find new ways to find, attract and recruit new players. The team is using video calls, text messages, emails and even PowerPoint presentations to recruit players while no game or sports activity is allowed. Another issue often forgotten with the pandemic is academic repercussions. A lot of athletes use the thought of playing basketball as motivation for their classes, especially as they have to maintain certain academic standards in order to remain on their team. Now this motivation is harder to come by, as they are stuck doing online classes just like every other student. 'I think all the coaches will be concerned with that, it's just not easy,' Popovic said. 'I follow up with my players on a weekly basis. We have online tutoring available also.' This kind of improvisation has been a key part of keeping the athletes on the right track academically, but Popovic recognizes that athletes aren't the only ones suffering from remote learning, as it hasn't been easy for all students. Popovic was very clear about the impact the situation could have on his team's chemistry. He said he teaches his players to compete for every playing minute, so if his players are competitors, chemistry will come quickly and won't be that big of an issue. By competing at a high level, chemistry usually sets in really quickly, because you get to understand the playing style of your teammates in a very short time. 'It's going to be affecting everybody and take a little bit of time, but we have veteran players returning and other experienced guys coming in from transfers,' Popovic said. 'That will help us once we get back together. We have a very good team culture and our veterans are very good at setting the example.' Courtesy of rseq.ca |
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