Provincial high school winter sports championships cancelled

The body overseeing secondary school sports in Ontario has cancelled all its championships scheduled for February and March and local and regional officials are meeting to plan a path forward for student-athletes.

OFSAA President Carolyn Chesney cited "the late restart and current uncertainty of when school sports may resume combined with the government’s pause on high contact school sports until an undetermined date."

OFSAA championships or festivals for alpine skiing, nordic skiing, snowboarding, boys' basketball, girls' volleyball, hockey, and curling have been called off, joining swimming and wrestling, cancelled earlier as they had no host convenor in place.

In response to the emergence of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, Ontario's chief medical officer of health and the local health units paused indoor high contact and high-intensity activities as in-school learning resumed last month following the holiday break. A date of Jan. 31 was communicated for the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit and the four local school boards to review the situation, dependent on guidance from the provincial health and education ministries.

See: Returning to Our Plan to Safely Reopen Ontario

The winter sports seasons have been paused throughout January and into February across the province. According to NDA President Tim Lowe, the local association will meet Feb. 7, while regional body NOSSA has decided its alpine and nordic skiing championships will go ahead but has deferred a decision on the status of the other winter championships to Feb. 9.

Lowe says the open-ended provincial policies regarding the return to play and return to practice are leading to the uncertainty surrounding timelines at the NDA level. "Locally, we are weighing the benefits of not participating at NOSSA and focusing on finishing our local leagues and playoffs."

Calling it an "unfortunate decision," at its recent meeting, the OFSAA Executive Council agreed local public health restrictions could have prevented some communities from hosting OFSAA events. In cancelling its provincial championships, OFSAA hopes it can still promote participation and student-athlete safety as local associations could be able to extend their interrupted seasons of play.

As of now, OFSAA said its spring championships and festivals are moving forward, beginning with badminton in May. Many OFSAA championships and festivals were cancelled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic.

Chesney also stated, "We are thankful for the commitment shown by our convenors and host organizing committee members who volunteered their time during the planning stages of the OFSAA winter championships and festivals.

"Despite this cancellation of February and March OFSAA events, we again wish to reiterate our continued support for sports and activity for the benefit of students’ physical and mental well-being. School sports play a vital role in education and in the lives of students."