Many minor league sports in Edmonton are working on new game plans following extended COVID-19 restrictions in Alberta.
The hockey community typically holds Quikcard Minor Hockey Week in January.
“To put that event on hold… it really hurts,” Steve Hogle of Hockey Edmonton said. “It is so embedded in our community. We take great pride in staging it every year.”
Earlier this month, the provincial government announced that COVID-19 public health measures currently in place will remain until at least Jan. 21.
That means hundreds of sports teams are unsure if they will be able to finish the season.
Hogle said the group is reworking the schedule again to try and make something work within the season.
“That’s based on the hope that we will be able to resume play Jan. 21,” he said. “It is a real funky land we are living in for sure.”
Hogle said the organization is also exploring different scenarios on how to make a much different season work.
“Can we put minor hockey week at the end of the season? Can we extend the season? Do we go into the spring and is there an appetite for that?”
Minor hockey joins other youth sports hoping to put on at least part of the season.
On its website, the Edmonton Minor Soccer Association says its goal is to give teams “as many games as possible for the remainder of the indoor season. EMSA plans to complete the 2020-21 indoor season through February, March and the first week of April.”
It said if current restrictions prevent them from completing all games by April 11, 2021, the “EMSA board will decide a pro-rated refund policy.”
Hogle said Hockey Alberta is acting as a liaison with Alberta Health to discuss options for a potential return to play.
“We remain hopeful we can stage it in some fashion before the end of the year but we realize it’s going to be a total task to do that,” Hogle said.