Hockey Magog shutdown
Hockey Magog, a minor hockey league association, has postponed all activities, games and practices, for nearly half of its members following two COVID-19 outbreaks at Brassard-saint-patrice School and Sainte-marguerite School.
The decision only effects the association’s youngest players, between five and 11 years old. According to Hockey Magog General Manager Ghyslain Héroux, positive cases started to pop up about 15 days ago, and they were coming from students at the two schools.
Héroux received a few emails from the local health authority concerning the amount of cases. And after several discussions with the association’s leadership group, Héroux decided it was best to hit pause, rather than letting the situation escalate into something much worse.
He told The Record that if all goes well, the age groups impacted by the delay will be back on the ice starting Monday. However, each of the players who contracted Covid have different timelines, so it’s a little unclear as to when they will make a return to their teams.
Hockey Magog is home to about 300 minor hockey players from the surrounding area, as well as another 30 or so who travel from Stanstead to play on a weekly basis. With Quebec announcing a vaccination plan for children, Héroux is confident it will have a positive impact.
“You can already see the difference, we stopped for about a year and half and our youths who are in peewee to junior are vaccinated and they can continue to play and they don’t have any positive cases, you see the difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated,” he said.
Héroux noted that while they will try to reschedule the cancelled games, there is no guarantee that they will be able to do it. And, at the end of the day, the goal for this year is to at least reach 10 games, he explained, which would be a major step up to last year.
The general manager also added that the association has been surprisingly stable when it comes to registration numbers. The bantam level has dipped, but every other level has maintained steady participation, he said, compared to other leagues in Quebec.
However, there is one area that continues to bleed, which is the volunteer presence within the association. There are no more volunteers in 2021, Héroux said, adding that there are two people slated to organize the upcoming Challenge Hockey Kia de Magog Tournament.
“This has been happening for years, adding Covid makes it harder, but even before it was already difficult. The lifestyle for parents today versus the 80s and 90s, everything goes quickly with families, people don’t take time to stop to help their organization,” said Héroux.