Hi everyone,
We hope everyone is keeping safe, well and social-distancing!
This is our update on the leagues as the COVID-19 preventative measures and news continues to change hour by hour and day by day.
It's pretty clear that the closures and measures aren't going to be lifted by the April 5th date that most schools, institutions and businesses had originally worked towards.
Your guess is as good as ours as to when we will get to the stage where leisure activities will resume. We know facilities will be closed beyond April 5th, but we don't know when they will reopen.
Winter Seasons
We are still assuming we can complete the winter seasons as planned. When this happens and what changes may be necessary isn't something we can confirm right now because we simply don't know ourselves. One of three things will end up happening with the winter seasons, depending on the when we can get back on the field:
1. We complete the season and all of the games - Obviously, we hope to be able to do this. It may require the finishing date to be pushed back, removal of bye weeks, or doubleheaders, or a game on another night. We'll do everything we can to try to get the seasons and the advertised number of games completed.
2. We finish the season with a shortened regular season - If this was the case and we couldn't fit in all of the winter league games we would make a call on having a reduced number of games and then playoffs, and credit teams a prorated amounted for any reduction in the length of the season.
3. The season is abandoned - This would be an absolute last resort, but it's not impossible that we could get to a point where we have to abandon the season altogether. In this case, a pro-rated credit or refund for the remainder of the season would be issued.
Everything hinges upon when we are all allowed to resume sporting and social activities. Once we know the date of when we are able to resume, we will be able for confirm the format of the remainder of the season and calculate any potential rollover of fees to spring leagues, credits or refunds. Thank you for your patience in bearing with us until we can get some clarity on the future.
Spring Seasons
The spring seasons will go ahead as planned, but there is obviously a possibility that the start date may change or the season length may be adjusted if the COVID-19 measures continue for months. Whatever happens, you can go ahead and reserve your space with confidence. If we do have to make changes to what we are currently advertising for our spring leagues and the changes aren't suitable for your team we will issue a full refund of your deposit before the season starts.
FAQs
How quickly will games resume once the restrictions are lifted? Nothing will happen until Ottawa Public Health confirm that it is safe and reasonable to resume sporting activities. Once that happens, and assuming facility availability, we would expect to be able to restart games within a couple of days.
What is happening with the Kicking Cancer's Butt Tournament this year? We will still be holding Kicking Cancer's Butt 11, but we won't choose a date for it until after restrictions are lifted. Most likely it will become a late summer or fall tournament this year, but it will be going ahead!
Take care everyone, please, please, please take social distancing seriously and support our local small businesses in whatever way you can,
Andrew, Chris, Dan, Joel, Matt and Ryan and the Footy Sevens Team
p.s. Don't forget your mental health during the current isolation: it's okay not to feel okay and the Mental Health Crisis Line is available 24 hours a day/7 days a week at 613-722-6914.