The picture on Twitter of Victoria HarbourCats mascot Harvey sitting alone in the grandstand of Royal Athletic Park, bowed head forlornly cupped in his hands, said it all.
The HarbourCats have cancelled their 2020 West Coast League baseball season, which would have been the club’s eighth in the circuit featuring players from the Pac-12 and other top NCAA conferences.
The anvil dropped this week with the announcement that, despite many aspects of B.C. society re-opening, the ban on gatherings of more than 50 people in the province would remain in effect until there is a vaccine or herd immunity for COVID-19.
That means there is little chance of having fans in the stands for B.C. sports teams this summer and likely into the fall.
This week, Oregon Governor Kate Brown announced fans won’t be able to attend sporting events in the state until at least October, leaving the HarbourCats, Kelowna Falcons, Bend Elks and Corvallis Knights all unable to play in 2020 because of provincial and state health directives. The Bellingham Bells also announced they have cancelled their WCL season.
The Victoria and Kelowna clubs faced the added challenge of the Canada-U.S. border being closed to anything but essential travel.
“I am disappointed, mainly for our loyal fans,” said Jim Swanson, the HarbourCats’ general-manager, co-owner and managing partner.
“It’s hard to realize there won’t be the exciting buzz of activity this summer there usually is at [Royal Athletic Park]. It’s not only us, but all the food trucks and other economic activities in a season of baseball.”
Swanson said the border closure and re-opening plans have “not been kind to sports groups. Yet, movie theatres will be allowed to open. I am puzzled by that.”
He said the team will lose 75 per cent of its seasonal revenue by not playing this year. He would not divulge further financial details.
“We are a seasonally intense business,” Swanson said.
“But we will return next year.”
Also to be introduced in 2021 is a previously announced new WCL franchise in Nanaimo, which will be owned by the same group that owns the HarbourCats.
In a statement, the WCL said B.C.’s Wednesday announcement dimmed its hopes for league games in Victoria and Kelowna.
“As a result of these and other governmental directives [in Oregon], we anticipate that the WCL’s Bend Elks, Corvallis Knights, Kelowna Falcons, and Victoria HarbourCats will soon join the Bellingham Bells in canceling their 2020 seasons. The league’s other teams continue to pursue all their options.”
The HarbourCats made the league final last year before bowing to the champion Knights. Victoria averaged 2,311 fans at Royal Athletic Park last season and has led the WCL in attendance every season except one during the club’s existence.
Every team on the Island has been affected by the pandemic.
The start of the Pacific FC season in the professional Canadian Premier League of soccer has been postponed. The situation is looking dire for the Victoria Shamrocks and Nanaimo Timbermen of the gate-driven Western Lacrosse Association.
The Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League had the latter part of their regular season and entire playoffs cancelled. The Cowichan Valley Capitals and Nanaimo Clippers were preparing for the Island Division final when the B.C. Hockey League playoffs were cancelled.
The list of scheduled international sporting events cancelled or postponed on the Island is immense.
The Canadian women’s rugby team was to have hosted the Canada Sevens last weekend at Westhills Stadium in Langford as part of its Olympic preparations.
The Canada men’s soccer games against Trinidad and Tobago, considered key for 2022 World Cup Qatar qualifying in CONCACAF and scheduled for March at Westhills Stadium, were cancelled. So, too, was the annual Times Colonist 10K last month.
The cancellation of the 2020 Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, rippled across the continent to Saanich and caused the cancellation of the Canadian Little League championship scheduled for August at Layritz Park.
The annual Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada DCBank Open, slated for June 4-7 at Uplands Golf Club, has been postponed. The Tokyo Olympic basketball qualifying tournament, originally scheduled for June 23-28 at the Memorial Centre, has been rescheduled to next summer to coincide with the new Olympic starting date of July 23, 2021.
