Cougars, Dinos still planning to return

U Sports rocked by U of A decision

The Calgary Dinos and Mount Royal Cougars are still planning to play in 2021.

The post-secondary community was rocked earlier this week by news the University of Alberta Golden Bears and Pandas will skip the upcoming season in three marquee sports — basketball, hockey and volleyball — for financial reasons. But both Calgary-based institutions have reaffirmed their commitment to fielding teams whenever the action starts.

Although the health crisis has forced the cancellation of all team competitions and championships in the fall semester, the Canada West conference hopes to start a shortened league schedule in January.

“It’s disheartening to hear that one of the larger Canada West institutions is in that position, where they were left cancelling sports this year. It definitely impacts the lives of a significant number of student-athletes and leaves a bit of uncertainty,” said Jason Kerswill, the director of athletics at the University of Calgary. “But from a U of C perspective, right now we’re fully committed to running our volleyball, basketball and hockey programs. Hopefully, we’re able to start in January. And really, what I’ve been communicating with our student-athletes and our coaches is that we are open to exploring all competitive opportunities this year.”

That could perhaps include exhibition action against the Golden Bears/pandas, who blamed provincial budget cuts for Wednesday’s announcement. (That followed more bad news from late April, when the University of Lethbridge Pronghorns eliminated the men’s and women’s hockey programs due to financial constraints.)

The Dinos’ rivalry with Edmonton-based U of A goes way back, but they have also had a crosstown foe since the Mount Royal University Cougars joined the U Sports ranks in 2012.

The Crowchild Classic series — highlighted by an annual hockey hookup at the Scotiabank Saddledome — isn’t about to fizzle out, although there will be no soccer showdowns due to the cancellation of fall team events. (That also impacts the football, field hockey and Rugby 15s squads at U of C. MRU doesn’t compete in those sports.)

“Mount Royal is committed to the basketball, hockey and volleyball varsity teams continuing to prepare for this season,” said Cougars athletic director Karla Karch. “There is life after COVID, I believe, and right now the life is around January, but our plan is still to train through the fall. Our commitment is still to them and to training. It’s going to be somewhat different for soccer programs, but we’re still looking at a season right now for the three other sports.”

Karch and Kerswill both stressed that the safety of student-athletes is the priority.

Certainly, the plans for tipoffs and puck drops in January are subject to change due to the COVID -19 pandemic.

The final decision, Canada West has promised, will come by Oct. 8.