Today鈥檚 athletes are far too young to be acquainted with Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by the Platters. But smoke is getting into their eyes, noses, throats and just about everything else, and affecting their sporting plans in a big way this week and last.
The University of Victoria Vikes鈥� scheduled season-opening sa国际传媒 West men鈥檚 soccer doubleheader tonight and Saturday in Prince George, against the UNBC Timberwolves, has been postponed due to poor air quality caused by the wildfires in the province.
The decision was made Thursday morning, before UVic travelled to Prince George.
According to the sa国际传媒 West conference, air quality in Prince George was rated as 10-plus Thursday morning on the Environment sa国际传媒 Air Quality Health Index and forecast to remain so into today.
鈥淲e鈥檙e disappointed, but it鈥檚 the right decision,鈥� said UVic head coach Bruce Wilson.
鈥淲e should not be playing in danger zones.鈥�
The current haze situation is forcing sports leagues and association to respond. The sa国际传媒 West board of directors approved a new air-quality policy this week, which recommends conference teams postpone games if the Air Quality Health Index is rated at seven or greater.
鈥淲e needed a policy, especially if this is the new normal. Above seven is not safe,鈥� Wilson said.
鈥淧layers should expect to play university sports in a safe environment. We cannot put them in an unsafe situation.鈥�
The newly implemented guidelines have also forced the postponement of sa国际传媒 West men鈥檚 soccer openers for Kamloops and Kelowna scheduled for Saturday. The Fraser Valley Cascades at Thompson Rivers University and Trinity Western at UBC-Okanagan fixtures will be rescheduled.
sa国际传媒 West did not say when the three postponed games would be fit into the regular-season schedule.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the right decision, but it does make it difficult regarding the question of how do we make these games up during the season,鈥� Wilson said.
鈥淟uckily, we got refunds on the airline tickets.鈥�
Former NASL pro Wilson, who was the Canadian captain at the 1986 World Cup, said the worst environmental condition he played in was a severe sudden lightning storm that sent the players scurrying from the pitch to the dressing rooms at Soldier Field in Chicago.
The sa国际传媒 West soccer decisions follow the cancellation of the scheduled sa国际传媒 Football Conference game last Saturday in Kamloops between the Broncos and Westshore Rebels. That game was not rescheduled. Instead, the Sept. 15 game between the Broncos and Rebels at Westshore Stadium will be a four-point game.
The Rebels were on the mainland and en route to the Interior when the game was called off last Saturday. That prompted Rebels head coach Charly Cardilicchia to make some pointed comments in the media, for which he received a three-game suspension by the league.
The BCFC announced an air-quality protocol regarding any future cancellations or postponement due to the wildfires. Starting this week, whether a game will be played as scheduled on a Saturday will be decided by 1 p.m. on the Friday before. Ironically, considering the Rebels鈥� situation, that will keep other teams from exceeding their travel budgets.
The Rebels (1-0-1) meet their rivals Vancouver Island Raiders (2-1) on Saturday night at Westhills Stadium.
The Olympic Mountains have been obscured by heavy haze along the waterfront at the Victoria Golf Club, but the Canadian Mid-Amateur tournament continued this week. The fourth and final round goes today for the best 25-and-over golfers in the country.
鈥淚 noticed the smoke at the airport when I got in, but the air quality hasn鈥檛 affected me playing,鈥� said participant Phil Doucet of Beaconsfield, Que., after the first round.
The poor air quality is also not expected to affect the Canadian men鈥檚 baseball championships, which began Thursday and run through Sunday, at Royal Athletic Park and Lambrick Park.
The 2016 Rio Olympics bronze-medallist Canadian women鈥檚 sevens rugby team, however, trained this week at Westhills Stadium with some of the players donning surgical face masks.
鈥淚t doesn鈥檛 take long to feel it,鈥� head coach John Tai said.
鈥淒efinitely half an hour or less. Your throat is drier than normal and the players can feel themselves struggling for oxygen. It鈥檚 a bit of a challenge, but luckily, we are only in pre-season training [ahead of the start of the 2018-19 World Series in the fall].鈥�
The UVic men鈥檚 soccer team also altered its training this week.
鈥淲e had to go indoors [to the CARSA field house],鈥� Wilson said.
The Canadian national rowing team, meanwhile, broke camp Thursday and left the hazy conditions on Elk Lake in Saanich and Quamichan Lake in Duncan for a pre-scheduled training camp in Ioannina, Greece, ahead of the 2018 FISA world championships Sept. 9-16 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
Greece has also experienced serious forest fire conditions this summer, but that is not expected to affect the Canadian team鈥檚 pre-world championship camp.
