Atlantic University Sport’s decision to either return to play in January or join other U Sports conferences on the sidelines will be determined by the middle of this month.
“The next couple of weeks are going to be critical to what we are doing here,” AUS executive director Phil Currie said. “By mid-November we should have some answers in terms of what the direction is.”
Buoyed by the success of the Atlantic bubble, the AUS announced last month the formation of a committee which would explore the possible return-to-play options for the 2020-21 winter semester.
The committee will focus on the areas of health and safety of players and team staff members, financial feasibility and travel concerns. It’s expected the committee will provide its recommendations to the AUS board of directors by this Wednesday. The board, in turn, will have its decision within two weeks after receiving the recommendations.
Currie is optimistic play will resume in the new year.
“What gives me optimism is obviously the benefits we have based on the Atlantic bubble,” said Currie, in his 19th year at the helm. “It’s relatively safe. There’s lots of other variables that we have to take into consideration, like budgets and travel. We’re confident we’ll be able to get to something if all remains relatively the same as it is right now.
“The opening up of Nova Scotia to 50 people without social distancing has really helped. Hopefully things will remain safe and consistent which, I think, will get us to some kind of competition in the winter.”
The return-to-play committee is comprised of four athletic directors and two AUS staff. The committee’s recommendations will need to have some flexibility to work with public health and safety officials from each of the Atlantic provinces and include contingency plans as the COVID-19 landscape and regulations continue to shift and evolve.
“I think the health protocols are relatively simple,” Currie said. “Each provincial sport organization has figured that out and have built their plans around public health restrictions and guidance.
“The sports side is straightforward because of that. We would follow those plans regardless to what sport it is. We’d follow the respective plan in the province that we’re operating in. One of the unique things about where we find ourselves with COVID is that there are unique differences from province to province in terms of what’s allowed and what isn’t.”
The committee will also take into consideration the financial situation of each school which has seen revenues shrink because of the pandemic.
“It will really boil down to the individual institutions,” Currie said. “Each institution will have to make their own decisions in terms of how they’re going to fit – or if they want to fit – into whatever plan we go forward with.
“We’re confident that most of our schools – if not all – will have their student-athletes on their campuses. It comes down to what’s possible from the institutions financially.”
The winter sports on the AUS calendar are hockey, basketball, volleyball, swimming and curling.
U Sports, the governing body for university athletics in Canada, has cancelled all national championships for 2020-21 citing concerns around student-athlete safety and hosting and travel challenges.
The Ontario and Canada West conferences will not have competition in the winter semester.
University sports are also all on hold in Quebec until at least Jan. 15. However, the province currently has the most active COVID-19 cases in the country.
“Sports in any educational environment is not a right, it’s a privilege, and we have to continue to treat it that way,” Currie said. “But in our respected positions, whether it’s an AD or as a conference administrator, we have an obligation as a conference to examine all possibilities in an effort to get our student-athletes back into some sort of competition for the winter.”