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.”
Women’s basketball nationals were supposed to happen March 18-21 in the VIU gym. The VIU Mariners women won the PacWest championship earlier this month.
“It was predictable and understood, but at the same time, it was almost like a shock and awe kind of thing that it was all over,” said Tony Bryce, the team’s coach.
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.
The CCAA is carrying 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.
READ ALSO: VIU Mariners women back-to-back basketball champs
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COVID-19: Province bans large gatherings in B.C. https://t.co/UTgmNviSOy
— Nanaimo Bulletin (@NanaimoBulletin) March 12, 2020
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