The sa国际传媒 restart plan envisions sports returning across the province, with spectators in venues on an increasing sliding scale.
The Tokyo Olympics basketball qualifying tournament June 29 to July 4 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre could have limited attendance allowed. Pacific FC could return to unlimited attendance at Starlight Stadium for the second part of its CPL pro soccer season in the fall. The Victoria Royals could open their 2021-22 WHL season and the Island Division its sa国际传媒 Hockey League season also with unlimited attendance beginning in September. The same with University of Victoria Vikes, Camosun College Chargers, VIU Mariners teams and high school sports in the fall.
鈥淲e have cautious optimism that this is a great first step toward something resembling a normal season,鈥� said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price.
The CPL is planning a hybrid season, beginning in a single-site bubble in late June or early July, followed by the teams playing in their home stadiums in the fall.
鈥淭his sa国际传媒 announcement brings more clarity on when we can start opening up,鈥� said Rob Friend, CEO and GM of Pacific FC.
鈥淲e are preparing for a soft opening of Starlight Stadium in August with a potentially full stadium in September. Getting back to sports, back to normalcy, is what the community needs.鈥�
Cathy Noel, race director of the Royal Victoria Marathon, concurred.
鈥淭here鈥檚 hope,鈥� said Noel, about the chances for a live race Oct. 10.
鈥淲e were ready for the worst but now it鈥檚 looking better. It鈥檚 a question of what it will look like live. There are months that go into the planning of the race and it鈥檚 not a flick of the switch to go to 9,000 people racing.鈥�
Noel said there is a meeting tonight of the marathon board: 鈥淲e want to let everybody know as soon as possible.鈥�
Sports officials were alight across the province following the comments Tuesday by provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.
The chances are greatly enhanced that the DCBank Victoria Open pro golf tournament Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at Uplands and Stars on Ice, an annual revue featuring Winter Olympics medallists scheduled Oct. 26 at the Memorial Centre, will not only go ahead but with galleries in attendance.
鈥淏y July, we can have increased capacity. We can organize gatherings with a safety plan both indoors and outdoors with much larger capacity,鈥� said Henry.
鈥淚n the summer we can have fairs and festivals. And in September, if the data shows we鈥檙e still on the right track, we can have larger gatherings where we can have audiences 鈥� hopefully watching the Canucks maybe even get into the playoffs next year.鈥�
Henry also announced the restart of youth sports and adult recreational sports.
鈥淲e are now able to play games but we won鈥檛 be travelling,鈥� she said.
鈥淚t will be local games for all ages but with no spectators in this bridging period right now.鈥�
Henry said the plan envisions a limited numbers of outdoor spectators in June followed by limited spectators at indoor events starting in July.
鈥淏y September, we should be in the place where we can have [more] indoor spectators and outdoor spectators and a return of normal sports competitions with important safety plans in place,鈥� she added.
