The summer-collegiate Western Canadian Baseball League has postponed its 2020 season opener to late June or early July in consideration of social distancing and other measures forced by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Although the circumstances are not moving quickly enough at present in our favor, we want to look at all options in order to play this year,” said WCBL Kevin Kvame in a press statement. “The start of the season as scheduled in late May is impossible to maintain at this point and thus, we regrettably need to make this decision. At the same time, however, we express that with ever changing dynamics and circumstances on this pandemic and the measures needed to curtail it, we still want to maintain hope that a partial season can be played should healthy and government positions on the pandemic change enough to make it feasible. We know our talented players want to play and we know the communities are looking for positive, family-friendly activities to return. We are embracing that role, whenever that green light is turned on.”
The ten-team WCBL features six teams in Alberta and four teams in Saskatchewan.
The Western Canadian Baseball League joins the Prospect League, Coastal Plain League, Northwoods League, Futures Collegiate Baseball League, Texas Collegiate League and the New York Collegiate Baseball League in announcing delays to the 2020 summer-collegiate season.
The Cape Cod League and the Valley Baseball League have already called the season, while individual teams are also facing issues: the Duluth Huskies (Northwoods League) and the Lafayette Aviators (Prospect League) can’t play home games before July 1, the Bellingham Bells will not participate in the 2020 West Coast League season, and the Northwoods League announced a delay to the start of the 2020 season due to state shutdowns ordered as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. All in all, summer-collegiate leagues across the board are grappling with the potential of shortened seasons, extended seasons into the fall and teams facing serious revenue shortfalls.
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