Sask. sports community dodges COVID-19 bullet, for now

The Prince Albert Mintos and Saskatoon Contacts can keep playing.

In Saskatchewan, the games will go on.

The question remains for how long?

On Thursday, new restrictions became active in Manitoba to battle the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and those restrictions are slated at the moment to last four weeks. Recreational centres have to remain closed in the province during those restrictions bringing sports in Manitoba to a halt.

On Friday, Alberta added new restrictions to battle the COVID-19 pandemic that are slated to last two weeks at the moment.

Alberta suspended indoor fitness programs and team sports. Sports restrictions are specifically for recreational teams or group activities that occur indoors. Outdoor sports are not affected and neither are individual sports or exercise.

Junior, collegiate, university and professional sports are also exempted.

Those restrictions have caused the slowdown in that province’s sports scene.

At 11:30 a.m. on Friday, the Government of Saskatchewan held a press conference to introduce new restrictions. You can bet the sports community in Saskatchewan was wondering if there would be any clamp downs in the sports scene.

During that press conference, it was announced new restrictions were coming in Monday and would remain in place for 28 days.

A mandatory indoor mask rule that was already in place for Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert was expanded to all communities with populations over 5,000.

The Saskatoon Stars can stay in action.

Communities that surround Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert are included in the mask mandate, even if their populations are less than 5,000.

Licensed liquor establishments will have to stop serving alcohol at 10 p.m. and consumption must end by 11 p.m.

The use of hookah and water pipes in lounges won’t be allowed.

Gyms and fitness centres can stay open, but group aerobic classes are limited to eight people, and they must maintain at least three metres of distance between each other.

Saskatchewan high schools with at least 600 students were recommended to move to level three of the province’s Safe Schools plan. The amount of in class learning is reduced at that level.

At the press conference, Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said the government has considered sports restrictions, and some could come next week.

It was noted the spread of COVID-19 during sports activities has been low risk unless someone is participating who is sick. Shahab said virus transmission usually spreads before and after games when people are socializing.

Saskatchewan also reported it had 81 new COVID-19 cases on Friday with 108 recoveries. The province’s active case count dropped from 1,459 on Thursday to 1,427 on Friday.

From the press conference, it was apparent the Government of Saskatchewan is sticking to its plan in dealing with the pandemic. The provincial government is trying to balance battling the pandemic, while trying to keep the economy going.

By the sounds of things, it is looking more and more that “Linus blanket” field hospitals in waiting like the converted Merlis Belsher Place sports facility might be put more into action. Merlis Belsher Place and the field hospital at Evraz Place in Regina have some minor action with regards to the pandemic.

The Prince Albert Northern Bears can keep rolling.

The Saskatchewan Health Authority announced Thursday it will reopen its emergency operations centre, and that reopening will go into action on Monday. The emergency operations centre coordinated the health system’s pandemic response in spring.

For now, the Saskatchewan sports community dodged a bullet. Minor hockey and junior A hockey games will continue to be played in the province.

Activities in various other sports will be able to continue as well.

It should be noted that those in Saskatchewan’s sports community have been doing their best to follow public health guidelines and protocols.

If the games, practices and training sessions do indeed stop, it might be something that is ultimately out of the control of the sports community.

Huskies’ Humbert picked for coach mentorship program

Emily Humbert serves for the Huskies in 2015.

The University of Saskatchewan Huskies brought a sweet ray of sunshine to the day on Friday.

The Huskies announced that Emily Humbert, who is an assistant coach with the Huskies women’s volleyball team, was chosen for the University Female Coach Mentorship program, which is run by the Coaching Association of Canada.

The program aims to support the increased recruitment and retention of female coaches through financial and human resource support.

Besides being a coach, Humbert played five seasons for the Huskies women’s volleyball as a middle blocker from 2012 to 2017.

“It is truly and honour to be part of a program that aims to increase the presence of female coaches in the Canadian university system,” said Humbert in a release. “Throughout my time as a U Sports athlete, I was fortunate to learn from incredible female coaches such as Tiffany Dodds-Little, Lindsey Mehler and Shelly Dodds.

“The impact these women had on my development as a player and person was incredible. I hope I can have a similar impact on the athletes that I coach.”

During her time as a Huskies player, Humbert, who stands 5-foot-10, ranks in the top 10 in modern program history in kills, aces, blocks and points. The Saskatoon product received U Sports academic all-Canadian honours multiple times during her playing career.

Humbert took on an assistant coaching role with the Huskies Volleyball Club program in 2013. She went on to head coaching roles with the Huskies Volleyball Club program and at Bedford Road Collegiate.

Humbert currently teaches and Bedford Road and coaches the school’s senior girls volleyball team.

Before the start of last season, Humbert joined the Huskies women’s volleyball team as an assistant coach under head coach Mark Dodds. In the 2019-20 campaign, the Huskies finished sixth in the Canada West Conference with a 14-10 record and earned a playoff berth for the first time in 18 years.

The Huskies fell 2-1 in a best-of-three opening round playoff series to the University of Alberta Pandas, who won a silver medal in the conference post-season.

Humbert is a deserving choice for the University Female Coach Mentorship program.

Ivy League cancels winter sports

Willow Slobodzian skates during a summer session in 2019.

On Thursday, the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Ivy League cancelled all winter sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ivy League had already cancelled its fall season for the 2020-21 campaign.

That means the men’s and women’s NCAA Division I hockey teams at Brown University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University and Yale University won’t take the ice for any meaningful games in 2020-21.

The Rochester Institute of Technology had previously cancelled its 2020-21 campaigns for its NCAA Division I men’s and women’s hockey teams.

The Cornell University Big Red women’s hockey team features three grads of the Saskatoon Stars female under-18 AAA hockey team.

They include senior defender Willow Slobodzian, rookie defender Ashley Messier and rookie forward Kaitlin Jockims.

All Ivy League competition has been officially halted until March 1, 2021.

If you have any comments you would like to pass along about this post, feel free to email them to stankssports@gmail.com.

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