The Canada Summer Games is one of Canada’s most prestigious sporting events, where clubs from all over the country come to represent their province in a wide range of sports, competing in everything from baseball to wrestling.
This year however, uncertainties surrounding COVID caused the Niagara Host Society, the Province of Ontario, and the Federal Government to postpone the games until 2022.
“We started discussing in late June, examining what the next year might look like and analyzing when we would have to make any postponement decision,” said Niagara Host Society’s Board Chairman, Doug Hamilton.
“It became clear that, in all likelihood, moving ahead with the Canada Summer Games in 2021 would have prevented us from hosting the Games’ sport competitions, and cultural events in the way they were envisioned,” said Hamilton.
For the safety of the athletes and participants, this news comes with a hidden message. We may see this pandemic state continue into late next year, leaving many sporting clubs in Canada to wonder about next year’s season.
“It’s unfortunate that the Summer Games have been postponed but, it’s understandable. I think public safety has to be priority number one and we’re seeing that across all different levels of sport,” said Jason Morawski, business manager at the Oakville Aquatic Club.
It has been a difficult year for sports in Canada. With many organizations having to shut down for the better half of the year and adjust to new safety regulations, the recent postponement of the Canada Summer Games is just more salt in the wound.
“We understand why the games were postponed. Ultimately our board was mostly disappointed for the players because they worked for a long time to get there, and hopefully some of the girls are still able to participate for when 2022 comes around,” said
Piero Fusco the marketing manager for the Oakville Girls Softball Association.
Although it is sad that we’ll have to wait another whole year to witness the athleticism each Province has to offer, the athletic organizations appear to have a sense of understanding.
“We understood very clearly why this had to happen. While we are disappointed, at the same time under the circumstances, we would’ve made the same decision,” said Fusco.
For all clubs across Canada this postponement might be a blessing in disguise. Many organizations are still in the process of reopening. By rescheduling the games to 2022, it should give the clubs the needed time to readjust.
“We recognize that by making this decision now, we are giving our 13 provincial and territorial teams more time to adjust their preparations for a later start date. Each of them has conveyed a sense of understanding that this choice to postpone the Games was made in the best interest of all the Games participants, volunteers and spectators,” said Doug Hamilton.
Many clubs in Oakville have reopened under reduced capacity, in order to align with safety measures surrounding COVID.
“The situation we’re in now is kind of this phased slow reopening process, so our access to training pools is still reduced. We have brought in between 250 to 275 athletes to begin training starting this fall but, that’s still only around a third capacity at this stage,” said Jason Morawski.
With the year winding down and coming to an end, many of Canada’s sports organizations have begun to prepare their coaches and athletes to return to their normal training routines.
“Everyone’s really excited to be back swimming and are comfortable with the safety precautions that are in place. I think everyone is just happy to be back training, exercising and doing the sport that they love,” said Jason Morawski.