CLEVE DHEENSAW

Times Colonist

It almost seemed like normal times Sunday at Layritz Park as the boys of summer chattered, and the unmistakable crack of ball off bat, filled a lilting August evening as the Victoria Mariners took on the Victoria Eagles

Almost normal being the operative phrase. It wasn’t exactly like when future MLBers and former B.C. Premier Baseball League players Nick Pivetta of the Eagles, Rich Harden, Michael Saunders of the Mariners, James Paxton, Tyler O’Neill, Larry Walker, Ryan Dempster, Jeff Francis, Brett Lawrie, Adam Loewen and Justin Morneau played.

These Mariners and Eagles players were not in the dugouts like the old days but more widely spaced outside them. Parents and grand-parents were not allowed in the stands but were socially distanced in family pods around the field on lawn chairs. A new ball had to be brought in every time after the previous one was put into play.

But the players were on the diamond playing the game they love, and had been deprived of, and that’s all that mattered as Phase 3 of the B.C. return to sport has begun.

The third phase allows for games between associations on a regional basis. The annual Zack Downey Memorial Tournament between the Mariners, Eagles and fellow-BCPBL teams Parksville Royals and Mid-Island Pirates of Nanaimo is scheduled for Layritz Park from Sept. 18 to 21.

“I know athletes and their families have been missing the joy of competition these past few months,” Lisa Beare, provincial minister of tourism, arts and culture and minister responsible for sports, said in a statement Monday.

Phase 3 also opens the gate for the Island Cup preseason B.C. Hockey League tournament featuring the Victoria Grizzlies, Cowichan Valley Capitals, Nanaimo Clippers, Alberni Valley Bulldogs and Powell River Kings beginning Oct. 2 and ahead of the BCHL’s anticipated season opening Dec. 1. Similar respective regional or “cohort” BCHL exhibition tournaments are planned for the Lower Mainland and also Interior teams.

“It’s exciting to know we will be having preseason games through the fall in what will be an extended training camp,” said Grizzlies GM and head coach Craig Didmon, in welcoming the announcement of Phase 3.

“It’s important for player development.”

But Phase 3 is no consolation for the Western Lacrosse Association’s Victoria Shamrocks and Nanaimo Timbermen, West Coast League baseball’s Victoria HarbourCats or B.C. junior football’s Westshore Rebels and V.I. Raiders, whose 2020 seasons were cancelled due to COVID19. The Victoria Royals lost the 2020 Western Hockey League playoffs but at least have a tentative 2020-21 season start date of Dec. 4 and the numerous Island-based Olympians have Tokyo 2020 plus one next summer.

There are still pandemic guidelines to be followed as sport opens wider in Phase 3.

“And everyone is taking them seriously,” said Mike Chewpoy, head coach of baseball’s Victoria Mariners of the BCPBL.

“Nobody wants to take the chance of being shut down again because they didn’t follow the rules. It’s not hard, just different. We normally go through a dozen and a half balls in doubleheaders. Now we go through four dozen balls. But the guys are just happy to be out there playing after having baseball taken away from them for most of the season.”

The B.C. Centre for Disease Control has reviewed viaSport’s return to sport guidelines for Phase 3. ViaSport is a not-for-profit organization, created with the support of the provincial government in 2011, to help guide and build sport in the province. Its Phase 3 protocols address regional cohort teams and competitions, travel, high-performance training for the likes of the Olympians based in Victoria, Richmond and Whistler, and run-of-game aspects such as physical contact.

“These guidelines will enable the social and emotional benefits of sport while ensuring the sports activities remain as safe as possible,” said B.C. health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry.

Phase 3 is considered the lynchpin stage to eventual return to normal play, whenever that will be, and has been long awaited throughout this summer by those in sports.

“Now, as we enter Phase 3, we will start to see more sport activities in communities around the province,” said Charlene Krepiakevich, CEO of viaSport.

“While these guidelines offer key parameters for the increase in sport activity, each sport will advance at a different pace depending on community capacity and readiness.”

There are 72 funded sports organizations in B.C. with 4,100 local sport organizations with more than 800,000 participants from youth to masters. To date, according to viaSport, 60 organizations have completed their return to play plans.

B.C. Soccer, for instance, announced throw-ins will be replaced by kick-ins from the sidelines in order to limit hand-to-ball contact.

cdheensaw@timescolonist.com

© Copyright Times Colonist