2020 Baseball Alberta Season Is Cancelled
Posted May 8, 2020
Today could very well be the toughest day that Baseball Alberta has ever faced. In an announcement, Baseball Alberta notified baseball associations and players across the province that due to the Covid-19 outbreak, all Baseball Alberta sanctioned events will be cancelled until September 1, 2020.
While a large number of baseball associations had announced cancellations of their Community League/House League seasons, which typically run in May and June for the most part, this announcement gives direction to the Rep Leagues which have been nervously waiting their fate. Now it is known. No AA or AAA leagues, no provincial championships and no tournaments.
Here is the statement from Baseball Alberta which you can also find on their website here:
Baseball Alberta’s Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to cancel ALL in-person Baseball Alberta sanctioned events and activities until September 1, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
With the current Provincial Health orders and restrictions in place, such as social distancing, gathering limits and limitations on non-essential travel along with numerous municipal closures, we deemed this to be the best course of action to ensure the safety of our membership. The health and safety of our athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans were our main priorities in arriving at this difficult decision.
“Although this decision will be disappointing to baseball families across Alberta, we felt it was important to provide guidance to our members in these uncertain times. With the warmer weather upon us, we would like nothing more than to be out playing baseball, however the reality is that at this time it is not safe to do so. We must respect the orders and restrictions that have been put in place in our province by our Chief Medical Officer of Health and her team” said Baseball Alberta Vice President Jon Oko
This is a very fluid situation and is subject to change as new information becomes available. Baseball Alberta is currently developing return-to-train protocols to allow for the resumption of in-person baseball activities once it is deemed safe to do so.
We will be updating our website and social media with information, in the event that we have changes to communicate.
Ron VanKeulen
President, Baseball Alberta
Further inquiries can be emailed to:
Tam Rosnau
Executive Director
There isn’t much to say about the decision other than to express disappointment but at the same time a level of understanding as to why this happening. It had to have been a tough decision for Baseball Alberta and the board who voted on this. Kids across the province will miss an entire baseball season while graduating U18 players with hopes of continuing to play baseball at post secondary will face more obstacles to be recruited and seen this season. Local baseball associations will also need to deliver the tough news to their players, coaches and parents.
Perhaps the only shot at seeing baseball in our communities in 2020 will now rely on Fall Ball which could last as short as a couple of weeks or if we are lucky, to a month or slightly more if the weather in September holds up.
No official statement from the Powerline Baseball League has been made yet, however it is expected for President Stephen Hrabec to reach out to the League Executive and teams in the near future to discuss the 2020 Powerline Baseball League season. The league has already made it known that they would follow the direction and guidelines set forth by Baseball Alberta, which could mean that this decision could spell the end of any hope for a 2020 PBL season.
A historic day for baseball in Alberta.
