The VI Raiders had their 2020 season officially cancelled on Thursday due to restrictions in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. (VI Raiders Facebook)

By Alex Rawnsley

CALLED OFF

COVID-19 claims upcoming VI Raiders, BCFC season

Aug 6, 2020 | 6:14 PM

NANAIMO — It was inevitable, but the BC Football Conference (BCFC) and the VI Raiders have had their 2020 season officially cancelled due to COVID-19.

The BCFC’s governing body, the Canadian Junior Football League announced Thursday “return to play guidelines do not allow for large enough gatherings to make training and competition safe for our athletes.”

BCFC President Tyler McLaren said it’s a tough decision for everyone involved in the sport.

“It’s one of those things where you have to weigh the risk and reward,” McLaren said. “As much as everyone loves football, we just had to do the right thing taking health and safety as our top priority.”

A failure to save the season wasn’t through a lack of effort or ideas.

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McLaren said everything was on the table from adjusting equipment to procedural changes.

“We looked at all the scenarios involving protective equipment with changes to helmets, face masks and shields…potentially looking instituting gloves for everyone to wear, sanitization of a football on every play.”

The league did develop a return to play plan for practices, however it quickly became clear it would not work for competition involving close contact of players and travel throughout B.C.

Another key factor in the decision came from a projected plummeting of revenues with minimal fans allowed at games impacting food sales, merchandise and tickets.

Upon hearing the news, focus for the VI Raiders immediately turned to the 2021 season.

Josh Williams, Raiders general manager, told NanaimoNewsNOW they will continue to adapt as news filters down.

Williams’ main focus now is on his graduating players who missed an opportunity to play a final season.

“We’re going to be adding a whole other set of high school graduates coming into the league, so I know they’ll have a difficult time handling that but I’d like to push for guys to get their extra year and not get the short end of the stick because of all this,” Williams said.

A majority of the Raiders players are out of town, making communication key for Williams to keep his squad together and focused on the 2021 season.

“Now that we have some concrete news on what’s happening going forward, now we can make our moves and plan the off-season of 2021 today,” Williams said.

Discussions continue on the start of a 2021 season and whether it comes in the spring, summer or fall.

–with files from Dan Marshall

alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley