Some Nova Scotia sports leagues shut down for 2 weeks
Nova Scotia U15 Major, Scotia Minor Hockey League among leagues shuttering during COVID-19 outbreak
A number of provincial sports leagues in Nova Scotia have voluntarily decided to shut down for two weeks.
Those decisions come a day after the Nova Scotia government brought in new regulations to clamp down on travel in and out of Halifax Regional Municipality to try and reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
"It's a year of not being the norm," said Nova Scotia U15 Major president Todd Watson. "Our teams outside of Halifax could continue to play, but we want to be part of the solution and not part of the issue, so we will shut down our league for two weeks."
The U15 league has five of its 12 teams within HRM.
Practices to continue outside Halifax
Watson said teams outside the Halifax zone can still practice, but teams inside the Halifax zone will not be able to because facilities have been closed.
Another provincial league, with no teams in the Halifax area, has also shut down.
The Scotia Minor Hockey League, which has teams throughout Nova Scotia, but none in HRM, has decided to cancel all their league games for all age levels, effectively immediately, for two weeks.
"To ensure all teams remain in their respective health zones, effective immediately all Scotia Minor regular-season league play will be suspended until Dec. 9," stated a notice posted to the league website.
In total, 11 minor hockey associations in the Halifax zone are impacted by yesterday's announcement and will be off the ice for two weeks. The province will re-evaluate in 14 days and could extend the conditions if COVID-19 numbers don't improve.
Any Halifax-area players who are playing for other teams outside their zone will no longer be allowed to travel and be with the team. As an example, the Koltech Valley Wildcats U18 team has eight players from HRM on their roster.
"These players are also not permitted to participate in any Hockey Nova Scotia-sanctioned activities (including practices, training sessions, or games with their teams) while these restrictions are in effect," a statement posted on the Hockey Nova Scotia website late Tuesday read.
School sports also on break
All school sports, in all regions of the province, are also being paused until Dec. 10.
Other leagues, including the Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League, will be holding meetings to determine how they move forward.
"You can't cross players from different health zones and we have a team that is in the northern health zone (Cumberland Blues) that pulls players from the eastern zone and those players can't play for them," said Nova Scotia Junior Hockey League president Heather Campbell.
"We have a meeting tonight to determine what we'll do."
Campbell said only four of the 12 teams in the league — Glace Bay, Eskasoni, Port Hawkesbury and Antigonish — won't be impacted by the new restrictions.