With the Government of Saskatchewan announcement that sports throughout the province would be shut down due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak as of Friday, it came with a sense of disappointment and simple resignation for many local organizations, including the Moose Jaw Minor Hockey Association.
“I think we sensed something was coming down the pipe here soon enough,” said MJMHA president Chris Flanagan, who saw the group’s hundreds of players suddenly sidelined with the decision.
“It is what it is, we’ve worked hard with Moose Jaw Minor Hockey, our board of directors, our parents, our players, our volunteers, everybody put everything into it. We followed all the protocols we could, we went over and above to make sure we were safe in the rinks and unfortunately it wasn’t good enough right now… We’ll take some time here to regroup, get healthier and stronger and be ready to hit the rinks when they open back up.”
The shutdown became inevitable as the province continued to see increased numbers of COVID cases over the last couple of weeks, including more than 150 a day since Nov. 14 and an all-time high of 429 on Nov. 21.
Fortunately, Moose Jaw hockey teams had escaped the scourge that had caused the cancellation of games in leagues all over the province.
“In Moose Jaw, we’ve been fortunate,” Flanagan said. “I think that goes to show the type of volunteers we have in our organization, if someone was sick, they stayed home. Nobody broke rules just to make sure they were at the rink. Everyone took it seriously in our organization and we’re very thankful for that. There weren’t any cases on teams in Moose Jaw, everyone was doing their part to stay safe.”
The new shutdown comes at a time when hockey leagues were well into their regular seasons all over the province — and that’s something that makes it that much tougher compared to when the first COVID-19 closures took part in the spring.
“Things were just starting to get going here, everyone was playing games in our house divisions and our Tier teams were playing games,” Flanagan said. “At the end of the day everyone was working as hard as they could and it’s been great to see kids at the rinks, enjoying something in these stressful times in the world.”
There is a bit of potential good news — teams may be able to still practice in small groups, which could keep youngsters occupied as things continue to develop on the pandemic front. Locally, the MJMHA is waiting for guidance from the Saskatchewan Hockey Association as to what may be done, and regardless of the decision they plan to do everything possible to put safety first.
“I’m going to assume something will come out here shortly just to see how we can move forward,” Flanagan said. “We just want everyone to know that we’re going to try our hardest at the minor hockey board level to keep the kids on the ice. We’ll have to work with the city of Moose Jaw as well and the Sask Hockey Association as well to see how this is going to look starting on Friday and moving forward for the next three weeks here until Dec. 17.
“We’re at a standstill again, and that’s unfortunate, but as long as everyone stays safe that’s the most important thing.”
