When does U SPORTS volleyball return? Sooner than you may think for some.

With the Omicron variant being felt right across the country, it is causing major disruptions for university athletes. Momentum’s Chloe Biel wrote an article which started off as a preview for all the U SPORTS matches that were to be held over the holiday break, but as Omicron hit, it ended up being an article about all of the cancellations it led to.

As each province is setting its own policy on public health, each U SPORTS conference has set its own regulations on when competitions can return. Some provinces have very few restrictions while other have set a full ban on gyms and fitness centres – prohibiting athletes from training at all.

Here is what is happening in each conference:

AUS

Atlantic University Sport (AUS) will pause all university sport competitions until at least January 19, 2022. This decision was made in accordance with the recent public health restrictions set by each of the Atlantic provinces.

“The health and well-being of our student-athletes is our main concern as we navigate this latest wave of COVID-19, and we understand that providing them with meaningful competition is part of that,” says AUS executive director, Phil Currie. “While pausing the AUS schedule is a necessary decision given our current reality, we are confident that under the guidance of our provincial health authorities we will return to the field of play and finish the 2021-22 season in a way that is safe for everyone ”

Although no competitions are permitted until January 19^th, athletes are able to train with their respective teams. The current U SPORTS schedule has matches cancelled until the 19^th, however matches scheduled for the 21^st are still set to be played.

RSEQ

Quebec has had some of the most strict measures for combating the Omicron variant. Based on the RSEQ website, “following the announcement made on Monday, December 20 by the Minister of Health and Social Services Mr. Christian Dubé accompanied by Dr. Horacio Arruda, National Director of Public Health and Assistant Deputy Minister, the RSEQ (Quebec Student Sports Network) is obliged to suspend sports and extracurricular activities for the three school, college and university sectors until January 9 inclusive.”

With that date now in the past, and schools, gyms and fitness centres still closed in Quebec, it will be difficult to predict when the RSEQ can resume practice and games. According to the U SPORTS schedule matches are cancelled until January 22^nd, however matches on the 23^rd are currently still set to be played.

OUA

According to the OUA “[It] has paused OUA programming (scrimmages, exhibition games, tournaments, league competition, championships), which was originally scheduled to start back up on January 6th, and will commence no earlier than Monday, January 24th. This decision and corresponding timeline have been established in an effort to better allow member institutions to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on student-life programming and allow for student-athletes to have sufficient time to properly train and prepare for the winter championship stretch run.”

The OUA has been very vocal about wanting its athletes to be able to train. They have released a campaign entitled OUA IS ELITE to raise awareness in hopes of changing legislation that would allow athletes to train.

The OUA has postponed all matches on the U SPORTS schedule until January 25th, but they have also warned that greater postponement will likely be necessary if athletes cannot train before the competition date.

Canada West

Canada West did not postpone their playing schedule, however their schedule was not planned to begin until this upcoming weekend. Although some matches over the holiday break were cancelled, the teams were able to practice and train. Some teams were able to scrimmage against other teams as well. However, not everything will be status quo even for Canada West, as some schools have made changes to spectator policy and will be hosting matches without fans, or at 50% capacity.

Final Thought

In just a few months from now, the 2022 U SPORTS Men’s and Women’s Championships are scheduled to be held from March 25-27 at The University of Winnipeg and The University of Calgary, respectively. As some conferences have been able to continue preparation and resume play, while others remain sidelined – it is not shaping up to be an even playing field heading into what would be the first National Championships held since 2019. However, if we have learned anything over the last two years of the pandemic, it’s that nothing is fair when it comes to dealing with COVID-19.