College sports fields and courts all across the province will remain empty for the rest of 2020.
The Pacwest announced on Friday that league competition in men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 soccer, basketball, volleyball and golf has been cancelled for the fall.
League officials stated that they hope to restart play in January 2021 with a modified schedule.
鈥淲e looked at a number of different scenarios for fall competition keeping in mind the health and safety of our student-athletes, coaches and officials. Ultimately the decision came down to our guiding principle of keeping everyone safe,鈥 stated Pacwest president Jake McCallum.
Soccer and golf usually open in September, volleyball usually begins in mid-October, with basketball getting underway in late-October or early-November.
Schools impacted by the news include: Victoria鈥檚 Camosun College, North Vancouver鈥檚 Capilano University, Cranbrook鈥檚 College of the Rockies, Abbotsford鈥檚 Columbia Bible College, New Westminster鈥檚 Douglas College, Vancouver鈥檚 Langara College, Kelowna鈥檚 Okanagan College and Nanaimo鈥檚 Vancouver Island University.
The news comes off Canada West鈥檚 announcement to cancel all fall sports earlier this month.
Nationally the Canadian Colleges Athletic Association announced earlier this month the cancellation of the four 2020 fall National Championships. Along with that announcement the CCAA also said 鈥淏ecause CCAA Championships will not be offered for fall sports, these student-athletes will not consume a year of eligibility for the 2020-21 season.鈥
As a Conference, member institutions have the ability to decide how and when they will return to sport participation based on institutional, municipal and provincial recommendations and guidelines.