This year鈥檚 Layritz Little League players are not likely to get a chance to join the likes of Michael Saunders from Gordon Head in 1999, Adam Loewen of Kennedy-Surrey in 1996 and Jason Bay of Trail in 1990 as players to play in the famed Little League World Series at South Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
It isn鈥檛 official but it鈥檚 becoming obvious.
The 2020 Canadian Little League championship would have been broadcast nationally on CBC from Aug. 6 to 16 at Layritz Park but will probably be among the many international and national Island sporting events planned for this year to fall victim to the COVID-19 pandemic.
鈥淚鈥檓 resigned to the fact that it won鈥檛 be happening,鈥� said Dave Potter, head coach of the host Laytriz team.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not cancelled yet, but I think it will be.鈥�
It would join a growing list. The sa国际传媒 men鈥檚 soccer games against Trinidad and Tobago, considered key for 2022 World Cup Qatar qualifying in CONCACAF and scheduled for last month at Westhills Stadium in Langford, were cancelled. So, too, the annual sa国际传媒 10K slated for this month.
The annual Stars on Ice, featuring former world championship and Winter Olympic figure skating medallists and scheduled for May 12 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, has been cancelled. The sa国际传媒 Sevens women鈥檚 rugby tournament, planned for May 2-3 at Westhills Stadium, has been postponed. The Tokyo Olympic basketball qualifying tournament, originally scheduled for June 23-28 at Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, has been rescheduled to next summer to coincide with the new Olympic starting date of July 23, 2021.
The all 12-year-old Layritz team, was put together as eight-year-olds building to this summer in the hopes of reaching the Little League World Series in South Williamsport.
鈥淵ou wait so long and think this summer and the national tournament will never come, and now it probably won鈥檛,鈥� said Potter, who has coached Layritz for 16 years.
鈥淭he kids have come up as a group working so hard for this the last few years. But it will be a dream cut short. The chances are slim to none that the nationals can go ahead.鈥�
Bleachers seating 3,000 were to be brought in around the Layrtiz diamond and scaffolding was to be built for the CBC camera and broadcast crews.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been nearly four years of planning and a lot of blood, sweat and tears. But now it doesn鈥檛 look good,鈥� said Shannon Nakatsu, chair of the 2020 Canadian Little League championship committee.
鈥淲illiamsport appears precarious because of the situation in the U.S. We鈥檙e not super-hopeful but a part of you still says, be ready if it does go ahead.鈥�
A slim option could be to still host the Canadian championship even if the Little League World Series is called off. But that is a longshot at this point, too.
鈥淚t鈥檚 easier for the adults to wrap their heads around this than the kids,鈥� added Nakatsu.
鈥淢aybe we can bid to host the nationals again in the future but these players will have aged out, and they have worked so hard for this for four years.鈥�
Layritz officials say it has to be put in perspective.
鈥淭here鈥檚 so much going on in the world that this is a small thing in the big picture,鈥� said Nakatsu.
But it鈥檚 these little things that mean a lot to people. And they are adding up.
鈥淐ancellation would be understandable considering the world situation,鈥� said Potter.
Not that it makes it any easier for those affected.
Teams from sa国际传媒 have represented sa国际传媒 in the Little League World Series 27 times, including Coquitlam last year. sa国际传媒 teams have won the Canadian championship every year since 2005 except for 2013, when East Nepean of Ottawa was the national champion.
Layritz was built for this moment and looking to become the third Island team to get to Williamsport following Esquimalt-Vic West in 1974 and Gordon Head in 1999, the latter featuring former MLB player Saunders.
No Canadian team has won the Little League World Series. The only Canadian team to reach the final was Stoney Creek, Ont., in 1965. That will likely remain so until at least 2021.
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