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It has been well documented how the pandemic has taken a toll on sports, from the many Island-based Olympians whose dreams of the 2020 Tokyo Games are deferred to next year to the Victoria Shamrocks’ first dark lacrosse season in franchise history.

It is so far so good for Island sports teams that have returned to play.

Emil Gazdov could be Pacific FC’s goalkeeper of the future, if he doesn’t move up before that.

Dylan Garand is going from his summer job of packing regular apples, and a whole bunch of other stuff at the front checkout of the Langford Costco, to the Big Apple.

There was touted to be a big Canadian story out of the closed-course London Marathon on Sunday. But it wasn’t, as anticipated to be, provided by Cam Levins of Black Creek.

Clint Hamilton never thought he would be closely monitoring the words of a trio of people as diverse as Japanese prime minister Yoshihide Suga, NBA commissioner Adam Silver and sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

The echoes of bouncing basket­balls ring off the walls of CARSA Gymnasium. But only in practice sessions. The waiting game continues for University of Victoria athletes.

As an American, forward Chase McInnis of the Victoria Grizzlies took one of the trickiest pandemic routes to the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Hockey League pre-season Island Cup, which begins tonight. But it wasn’t as fraught as he thought it might have been.

Geoff Grimwood resigned as head coach and GM of the Cowichan Valley Capitals on Thursday on the eve of the start of the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½ Hockey League preseason. Brian Passmore has been named interim head coach and GM until the positions are filled.

In normal times, soccer players would be kicking the ball toward the Colonist Cup boys’ championship, volleyballs would be spiking in school gyms and footballs kicked and passed on school fields up and down the Island.