Word on U Sports national championships expected in mid-October

According to two board members in different U Sports conferences, U Sports had planned to discuss on Oct. 15 whether or not national championships will go ahead this season.

Stay-at-home orders and business shutdowns (or “red alerts”), declared in areas of Quebec on Sept. 27 will likely change that slightly, said Stephane Boudreau, Réseau du Sport Etudiant du Québec’s (RSEQ) deputy CEO. He said he expects any final decisions to be pushed back closer to the end of October.

Boudreau said any decisions on whether there will be sports at all in the winter will come after a decision on national championships and will be up to each individual conference. 

“We’re going to see if things with COVID get better [in the next few weeks] before making any announcements,” he said. “The situation is constantly changing, not even by the day anymore but by the hour, especially here [in Montreal].”

Tim Maloney, Dalhousie’s director of athletics and an Atlantic University Sport (AUS) member said U Sports members plan to hold a meeting “in the range of after Oct. 15” about the status of national championships. 

“In a couple of weeks, we’ll have more of an idea of what’s going on,” he said. 

The slightly delayed announcement comes in the wake of COVID-19 case spikes in Quebec and Ontario, plus high case numbers in other provinces. 

U Sports already cancelled six championships in the fall semester, while its conferences cancelled sports entirely for the fall. In a June 8 announcement, U Sports said they would work with the conferences in the fall to make a plan for the delivery of the winter season.