Hockey Calgary adapting to COVID-19
Early signs are positive, but organization faces ‘a moving target’: executive director
Rec leagues have hit the ice.
So have summer camps and clubs at rinks around the city.
It’s all a good omen, says Hockey Calgary, that the sport might return to some sort of normalcy in the face of the coronavirus pandemic once the usual season rolls around.
“If it’s all good by the September long weekend, we’d be extremely happy,” said Hockey Calgary executive director Kevin Kobelka.
“We’re moving in the right direction,” Kobelka continued. “But the challenge is that it’s a moving target. Are we going to be at this stage? Are we going to be at a different stage? Is it going to go forward? Is it going to go backward? What do you plan for?”
The plan right now, says Kobelka, is to get hockey programs in Calgary up and running under Alberta’s Phase 2 return-to-play guidelines. Because … well … that’s where the province is at right now with the release dates of Phase 3 and — if deemed necessary — Phase 4 not yet determined.
“We’re trying to operate a program within all those (Phase 2) guidelines,” Kobelka said. “There’s two ways we can operate — we can operate in a physical distancing environment, where participants have to remain two metres apart at all times and they can have no contact or touching or bumping-type drills or games.
“Then there is the second way — using cohort groups of up to 50 participants grouped together (as outlined in Phase 2), but that cohort needs to stay together unless there is a 14-day isolation or incubation period. My top-line thoughts and what I’ve communicated is that we will do our pre-season prep, camps and sorting — I’m not even going to call it evaluation — based on physical distancing, skill-based evaluations to get to our groups of 50.
“And from there, it gets a little more tricky, as you can only do 50-participant cohorts. So, how do you do some kind of gameplay? That’s kind of what we’re working on right now.”
Of course, the province pushing forward into the next phase of relaunch could change all that.
And Hockey Calgary still has about six weeks to make adjustments.
The usual hockey season around the city begins in mid-to-late August.
But even if it’s delayed, Kobelka feels the quality of hockey won’t suffer.
“If the kids get back on the ice and compete, they’ll be just as good a player by Christmas,” said Kobelka, with registration already on for Hockey Calgary programs. “Are they going to get off to the same start? Some may be a little step behind. But for those who don’t play all spring and all summer and then don’t get on the top teams, they might have a better chance because now everybody’s playing on the same level playing field.”
That said, summer camps and clubs are back in action under Phase 2 protocol, with hopes, says Kobelka, that they pave the way positively for a fun-filled — and safe — road ahead for the sport.
“For our program and for all of sport, we hope the for-profit organizations are following the guidelines,” Kobelka said. “A lot of those programs aren’t governed by a governing body, and that’s one of the challenges. I think most of them are doing a great job in following the guidelines, but we hope they all are, because any setback is going to set back the whole program.”
The same eyes are on the recleague hockey programs, one of which gleefully returned to the ice Friday morning at Flames Community Arenas.
“When you’ve been on the ice with the same group of guys yearround for over 20 years, it leaves a huge void when it’s taken away — both socially and that recurring physical activity,” said 7HL commissioner Darren Haynes. “So, for as abnormal as some things were given the protocols in place — being spread across multiple dressing rooms to allow for physical distancing, no showers, no hanging around post-game — getting that normal routine injected back into life is invigorating.”
Some bit of routine in what’s likely to be a new-world hockey landscape come fall is exactly what Hockey Calgary is hunting.
“The biggest thing is any program we develop in the fall needs to take in the safety of our players, volunteers and coaches first, and we’re about having a positive hockey experience — it needs to be focused on fun and development,” agreed Kobelka, adding financial aid programs through the Calgary Flames Foundation and Kidsport Calgary & Area are available for would-be hockey types, as is equipment assistance through Comrie’s Sports Bank.
“The most important thing is to get back and socialize and just be kids.”
If the kids get back on the ice and compete, they’ll be just as good a player by Christmas.