The national championship basketball tournament that Vancouver Island University had been looking forward to all season has been cancelled.
The Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association released a statement this afternoon advising that it is cancelling the women’s and men’s basketball championships “due to the ongoing developments in the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The CCAA added that “the safety of our student athletes is our priority.”
The association will carry on with volleyball nationals, which are happening now. The VIU Mariners women’s volleyball team advanced earlier today, March 12, to the national semifinals at Cégep Garneau in Quebec.
Women’s basketball nationals were supposed to happen March 18-21 in the Vancouver Island University gym. The VIU Mariners women won the PacWest championship earlier this month.
The VIU Mariners men’s basketball team had won provincial silver medals and had been slated to travel to nationals at Humber College in Ontario next week.
READ ALSO: VIU Mariners women back-to-back basketball champs
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In other sports news, the B.C. Hockey League has not yet made public any decision on proceeding with Round 2 of the playoffs, set to get underway Friday, March 13.
B.C. Hockey is also moving forward, as of now, with planned provincial championships this month, including midget Tier 1 provincials at the Nanaimo Ice Centre starting March 16.
The B.C. Intercollegiate Hockey League has postponed playoffs. The VIU Mariners had been scheduled to play a best-of-three series versus Simon Fraser University in Burnaby this coming weekend, March 13-15.
editor@nanaimobulletin.com
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