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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Sports, live event industry in uphill COVID-19 world battle

The Rush celebrate a goal in the NLL playoffs in 2018.

There are some business executives in Saskatoon who will likely be brought to tears when you mention the Junos.

The tears will continue to fall when you mention Saskatchewan Rush and Saskatoon Blades games knowing there were going to be playoff dates for both at the SaskTel Centre. The Blades could have potentially played their archrivals, the Prince Albert Raiders, in the WHL postseason which would have given those playoff home dates a huge attendance boost.

The business executives who would likely be shedding the tears are anyone who had a connection with the live event industry during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The live event industry has pretty much been hammered like the Death Star blowing up a planet in the fiction Star Wars movies.

As a result, there has been a campaign going where buildings used in the live event industry have been lighting themselves up in red lights to raise awareness of the plight of those that work the live event industry. It is a noble showing that should be applauded.

Just thinking about the Juno Awards themselves, business executives in Saskatoon have to envision the millions of dollars that were not spent in hotels, restaurants, transportation and people venturing out into retail spaces in “The Bridge City.”

When you think about 14,000 would have packed into the SaskTel Centre for the Junos on March 15 and most of those people were traveling in from out of town, you have a lot of outside money right there coming into the city.

Plus, you can’t forget the caterers and all those employed building the sets and various temporary structures that are used for an awards show like the Junos.

At the moment, the last two events held at the SaskTel Centre that drew big crowds were a Blades game on March 6 and a Rush game on March 7.

View this post on Instagram

#LightUpLive We are red tonight to raise awareness for our industry and support Canadian live event workers who’ve yet to be able to return to work. There are over a million Canadians employed directly in events, entertainment and professional sports. #WeMakeEvents #redalertrestart

A post shared by SaskTel Centre (@sasktelctr) on Sep 22, 2020 at 7:35pm PDT

On March 6, 4,478 spectators turned out to see the Blades down the Regina Pats 2-1 in overtime and officially lock up a WHL playoff berth. On March 7, 11,632 spectators saw the Rush bomb the Vancouver Warriors 17-7.

Unfortunately, it could still be a lengthy stretch of time before gatherings like this happen again in Saskatchewan unless credible vaccine is produced for COVID-19.

In the reality of the current day, sports in Canada are actually a business, and that business relies on gate driven revenue.

In another reality, the sports world in Canada is largely perceived as a pastime. That comes from the fact that sports aren’t a big enough business in Canada.

The Blades and Portland Winterhawks go at it in 2019.

In the United States, US$5 billion was spent to build SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Calif., to house the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams and Chargers. That is more money than the entire sports industry in Canada is worth.

From what I understand, the sports industry in Canada is likely worth 60 per cent of what it cost to build the new NFL stadium in Los Angeles.

We haven’t even got into the tens of billions of United States dollars the NFL, NBA, MLB, NASCAR Cup Series and NCAA football brings in on an annual basis.

There are a handful of fans in Canada that have argued sports are an essential service.

The COVID-19 pandemic has underlined how different the sports industry is in the United States compared to Canada. They aren’t even in the same realm, as the United States sports industry is way bigger than that of Canada.

With that noted, I have had the opportunity to work on a contract basis for a handful of companies that aren’t connected to the sports industry over the last six years. I’ve run into a lot of people that would laugh at the notion that sports in an essential service.

I have encountered my share of non-sports people who think sports people are crazy to be involved in sports.

In my estimate, I believe about 60 per cent of people in Canada have no connection to the sports world, and I suspect I am low balling that number. Governments see those types of things, and they are taken account when making decisions.

Fans pack Mosaic Stadium for a CFL game in August of 2019.

Governments are also tasked with the difficult job of protecting all people, and if they believe in the bigger picture it is better to not play, that is the way they will lean.

In listing to member of the Canada’s federal government over the last few days, it sounds like it will be a long time before the sports and live event are able to hold events like normal. Watching the broadcast news on Canadian mainstream networks in recent days has been more downright depressing than normal over the past six months.

There are constant hints of a second shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday it is too likely Canadian families won’t be able to gather for Thanksgiving, but we have a shot at Christmas.

Those words don’t inspire confidence in life changing to be more normal any time soon.

In Saskatchewan, we did get a small taste of how quickly COVID-19 can spread. The Saskatchewan Health Ministry linked 21 cases of COVID-19 to a recent large social gathering of 47 people at a Saskatoon home.

Under provincial rules, the limit for private gatherings is 30 people provided there is enough space to maintain a two-metre separation between individuals who are not in the same household.

On Sept. 17, a fine of $2,000 was issued to the organizer of that social gathering.

With all that noted, I believe Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe and Dr. Saqib Shahab, who is Saskatchewan’s Chief Medical Health Officer, have been reasonable and outstanding in attempting to navigate a path through the pandemic.

Fans pack a U Sports hockey game at Merlis Belsher Place in Feb.

They have allowed some of the sports in the province to return with a cautious little by little approach. Minor baseball, softball and football along with auto racing have been able to hold games and events.

The sport of golf was able to crown provincial champions. Success on those fronts does great some optimism other sports might be able to come into the mix.

With the Saskatchewan provincial election set for Oct. 26, it is realistic to believe you won’t see games in minor hockey before that date just to ensure that doesn’t become an election issue over any potential COVID-19 outbreaks.

There does seem to be bigger fears around indoor events.

Still, leagues like the WHL that cross over multiple regions will have the toughest task in coming back. It will take a lot of work to get the governments and healthy authorities in four provinces and two states to agree on a return to play.

That actually feels like an extremely enormous task, especially when it doesn’t seem likely the border between Canada and the United States will be opened for non-essential for many more months.

U Sports and the CJFL also face that tough task along with a professional circuit like the National Lacrosse League. While the NHL is back, there is no guarantee that circuit will get going with a 2020-21 campaign.

The U of Saskatchewan Huskies return to play is uncertain.

In the Canadian sports world, there will be similar stories to the one that broke this week of the Edmonton Football Club of the CFL permanently letting go of equipment manager Dwayne Mandrusiak, who spent 49 years with the team. The news of Mandrusiak being let go wasn’t taken well in the Alberta capital.

It would be great if the sports world and the live event industry in Canada could return to normal right now.

Unfortunately, the realist can the road for the sports world and the live event industry in Canada will be a long hard one to recovery, and the countless good people that work in those setting should get as much sympathy as possible.

The future path for those people is likely more out of their control than any other walk of life in Canada at the moment.

Notre Dame football paused due to COVID-19, other notes

The iconic football institution known as the University of Notre Dame Fighting Irish is not immune to the realities of the current COVID-19 pandemic world.

On Tuesday, the University of Notre Dame announced seven student athletes for the Fighting Irish football team tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday out of a total of 94 players that were tested. The school has paused all football related activities and the Fighting Irish’s game this coming Saturday against the Wake Forest University Deacon Demons at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been postponed.

On Wednesday, that contest was rescheduled for Dec. 12.

This past Saturday, the Fighting Irish bombed the University of South Florida Bulls 52-0 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana in an AAC regular season game in the top tier of NCAA football. That contest was played with limited in-person attendance.

Notre Dame at the moment won’t see action until Oct. 10, when they host the Florida State University Seminoles at Notre Dame Stadium.

Overall, Notre Dame said on Tuesday that 13 players were in isolation and 10 were in quarantine with last’s weeks testing results combined with those of this week.

On Wednesday, the Bulls paused football activities due to the positive test on the Fighting Irish team. The Bulls were to travel to Boca Raton, Florida, this coming Saturday for a regular season against Florida Atlantic University Owls of Conference USA, but that contest has been postponed.

As of Thursday, 21 NCAA top tier football games have been either postponed or cancelled.

The Fighting Irish have a national television contract that has seen all of their home games televised on NBC dating back to 1991. Notre Dame is the only school that has such a contract.

Even with a storied history that is hard to match anywhere else in the sports world, the Fighting Irish couldn’t prevent their season from experiencing disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Last Sunday, TSN’s John Lu announced on Twitter he had been battling COVID-19 since being diagnosed on Sept. 6. Traderumours.com did a story listing the majority of Lu’s tweets regarding his COVID-19 diagnosis, and it can be round right here.
• On Tuesday, the 2021 National Aboriginal Hockey Championships slated for May 1 to 9, 2021 have been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• On Tuesday, organizers of the prestigious Mac’s AAA Hockey Tournament announced this year’s event has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mac’s takes place annually from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1 in Calgary.
• On Tuesday, the NCAA announced Division I athletes who normally play sports in the fall will get to compete for a championship in spring of 2021. The fall sports that get to play in the spring of 2021 include men’s and women’s cross-country running, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo and the Football Championship Subdivision. The Football Championship Subdivision is the second highest tier of NCAA football.
• On Wednesday, U Sports’ Canada West Conference announced football receiver Don Blair as the first inductee for the Canada West Hall of Fame’s class of 2020-21. Blair played for the University of Calgary Dinos from 1992 to 1995 and helped them win the Vanier Cup as U Sports champions in 1995. In 1995, Blair had 1,112 yards receiving and caught 15 touchdown passes in the Dinos eight regular season games. Both totals are still Canada West Conference regular season records. Blair played eight seasons in the CFL from 1996 to 2003 with the Edmonton Football Club, the British Columbia Lions and the Calgary Stampeders. He was a member of the Lions Grey Cup championship team in 2000. Before joining the Dinos, Blair played one season in 1991 with the Regina Rams, when they were still members of the CJFL.
• On Thursday, the Pac-12 Conference voted to hold an abbreviated fall football season beginning on Nov. 6. The conference had voted last month to not play due to the COVID-19 pandemic. All teams are slated to play six regular season games, and they are all slated to finish the season playing on a championship weekend. The Pac-12 plays in the top tier of NCAA football.
• On Thursday, the Mountain West Conference announced it will play an abbreviated football season beginning on Oct. 24. The intent is hoped each team will play eight games. The decision is subject to approval from state, county and local officials. Back on August 10, the Mountain West Conference had indefinitely postponed all fall sports. The Mountain West Conference plays out of the top tier of NCAA football.
• On Thursday, the Regina Community Basketball League announced its fall programming had been cancelled due to time constraints created by difficulties in renting facilities.
• On Thursday, the Regina High School Athletic Association announced there will be no games played between schools this fall due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This decision effects the sports of cross-country running, football, soccer and volleyball. All RHSAA schools will be allowed to coordinate extra-curricular athletics, practices or intramurals within their own respective institutions.
• On Thursday, Rod Pedersen, who hosts The Rod Pedersen Show naturally, dropped a truth bomb. For some it will sting, but it is the truth. Check out the tweet below.

Think you’re irreplaceable? 🤔 Unfortunately, think again ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/uwDQrv7roS

— The Rod Pedersen Show (@RodPedersenShow) September 24, 2020

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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If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.

Feeling an awful squeeze due to COVID-19 scare

One of the final recreation hockey games at Merlis Belsher Place.

    It feels like society is coming apart over the conoravirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

    Any time there is a new cancellation, postponement or measure enacted to try to curve the potential spread of COVID-19, it seems to trigger another round of panic.

    I myself feel like I am getting more and more unnerved.

    Of course, my life revolves around the sports world, especially the local sports world. I cover it on my blog and for various media outlets on a freelance basis.

    Since the start of January, I have served as the communications coordinator for the Gordie Howe Sports Complex.

    At the moment, the sports world is basically shut down. Even checking on Instagram today to find out Merlis Belsher Place would be closing on Monday almost created a panic attack.
    Just back on February 29, I covered the University of Saskatchewan Huskies men's hockey team winning a Canada West Conference title in that building.
    Another scare came from hearing Canadian Hockey League teams are sending their players home before travel bans become even more of a worry. The WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and Prince Albert Raiders both announced on Sunday they were sending their players home.

Most sports venues in Saskatoon sit empty.

    I am in my comfortable spot when I am interacting with the sports world or I am at a facility be it an arena, football field or court. At the moment, all of that has been taken away, and it makes me sad.
    I almost feel like I have to put in work to avoid depression.

    I have had many moments where I have fought off the feeling of being flat out scared.

    Early last week, I personally thought all the reaction to the coronavirus scare was overreaction. I believe it is something that needs to be taken seriously.
    I still think an overreaction has occurred, but that thought doesn’t amount to anything.

    When the NBA suspended play on Wednesday, that seemed to be the moment when the dominoes really started to tumble to bring the sports world to a halt.

    The powers that control the rest of the world are bringing in clamp down after clamp down. Basically, the horse has left the barn on that front, and all anyone can do is try to take a deep breath and react to the next seemly inevitable change that is about to come.

    Introverts might be good with the concept of social distancing.

    My gut feeling is this will be a struggle for most people. For myself, the idea of not having face to face social encounters is terrifying.

The players of the Raiders and Blades have been sent home.

    I still find in person encounters are the best way to establish connection and community, where messages passed in electronic form can be twisted in interpretation.

    I almost don’t want to check social media. I find there are extremes where some people think COVID-19 shouldn’t be a worry to others who believe the world is going to end tomorrow or a significant portion of the population is going to die.

    It feels like society is being squeezed. I believe I am not the only one that feels this way.

    On Saturday night, I went out to Outlaws, which a Saskatoon nightclub hotspot, and I encountered a tonne of people who felt squeezed too. Everybody who was out that night treated each other super well.

    It felt good just to go out and have a party and feel a release. It seemed everyone that was there was happy to just be having a good time.
    For at least a few hours, the worries of what was happening in the world were in the background of the mind.

I rarely take pictures at Outlaws, but it was great to see everyone have fun.

    Even when I work up this morning, it was great to see a number of social media posts from the fun skate the Prince Albert Northern Bears female midget AAA hockey team had in “Hockey Town North” on Saturday night.

    It is comforting to know you can still find upbeat social media posts that are a pick me up. It feels like it takes extra work to find them.

    I wonder when the world will get back to being normal. I can’t wait to get back to a sports venue to cover an event again.

    I know things are on hold to allow the medical experts to get a handle on COVID-19.

    I know it has been speculated that issues relating to liability and insurance have played a part in why the shutdowns have occurred in every walk of life. I believe those speculations have merit too.

    Organizations like Hockey Canada put sizable resources into risk assessment, and the experts working in that area in Hockey Canada do great work. I feel you have to lean to accepting their recommendations are right.
    Still, I am struggling with how the world has been since the start of Wednesday. I also have long stretches where I will be doing great.

The Huskies winning the Canada West title on Feb. 29 seems long ago.

    I had been thinking about typing this post for a couple of days just to put out how I am feeling. I think it helps me, and maybe it will help others.

    I figured this post would be a rambling one too.

    Even before writing it, I had to gather myself. I decided to work at the Starbucks just north of the University of Saskatchewan.

    I stepped into the store and was shocked to see all the tables and chairs pushed off to one side. I was told starting on Monday customers would only be able to go in for their orders, but wouldn’t be able to lounge inside the outlet.

    After a chat with the staff, I was able to calm down and get to work.

    I desperately want the freedom to see my friends and not to feel like I am being locked down.

    The only approach I can take is the approach I have been taking with life the last number of years. I just take things one day at a time.

    I try not to worry about tomorrow until the challenges of the current day are met.

I can’t wait to see everyone when the world is in a better state.

    I look forward to the COVID-19 scare coming to an end and being able to have the freedom to see you all again in a more joyful set of circumstances.

    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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    If you like what you see here, you might want to donate to the cause to keep independent media like this blog going. Should you choose to help out, feel free to click on the DONATE button in the upper right corner. Thank you for stopping in.