ST. PAUL - While some local clubs have decided to proceed with fall/winter seasons, others are still waiting for advice on how to proceed.
St. Paul Minor Hockey typically has hundreds of area hockey players enrolled in its program.
"There have been a lot of discussions in regards to the re-entry of hockey from Hockey Alberta and the different leagues across the province," says Bryce Balmer, president of St. Paul Minor Hockey. "All we know right now, until there is further definitive direction, is that each minor hockey association can resume hockey within specific cohorts."
There will be no travelling and no outside competition allowed. "It will be called a development season until it becomes a transitional season into regular league and game play," explains Balmer. A meeting is set for Aug. 26 to further discuss was hockey will look like in St. Paul.
"I can say with certainty that SPMHA will adhere to Phase 2 guidelines and partner with our members and town/facilities to make sure that all health protocols and safeguards are in place to ensure our player, parent and volunteer safety that is within our control," says Balmer.
Barracudas
Not far from the hockey rinks, the St. Paul Aquatic Centre will see the St. Paul Barracudas swim club dive into a new season.
"As a club, we want to be able to keep the kids active," says Lana Labrie, president of the swim club. "We hope our enrolment is at least 75 per cent of kids from last year. We can only have 30 people in the pool at a time, so our class size will be 25 kids with five coaches."
If enrolment is high enough, the club will offer two time slots, with classes running Mondays and Wednesdays for one group, and Tuesdays and Thursdays for another class. Times will also run slightly different than usual, to help accommodate groups and meet the requirements.
"We are working with swim Alberta regarding policies and regulations for COVID and doing everything possible to keep the kids safe and physically active," says Labrie.
Football
St. Paul Football is attempting to move ahead with offering some sort of programming this fall, but so far, the Lions will not be playing in September.
"Hopefully, their season will be moved to the spring," says Todd Tanasichuk, a long-time coach with St. Paul Football.
For the Bengals bantam football team, the tackle season has already been moved to the spring, if restrictions are lifted and full football is allowed.
Meanwhile, plans are being made to attempt a touch football league, which will run from Aug 31 until Oct 2, says Tanasichuk. Registration for touch football, which is aimed at athletes from Grades 6 to 9, is this Wednesday at 7 p.m., at the football field.
Gymnastics
The St. Paul Gymnastics Club is on a break until at least November, since it's regular rental space at the Centre Communautaire isn't reopening to organizations until that time.
"Our plan is to hopefully offer a six-week re-entry session" in November and December, says Pauline Scrannage, president of the gymnastics club. Then, the club is hopeful it can resume its normal 12-week sessions in the New Year.
Coaches have been taking courses during the time off, and the club is working on getting everything up to standards within the new COVID regulations, says Scrannage. The club is also still committed to fundraising commitments, such as working bingos. A bottle drive is also being planned for this week, from 6 to 8 p.m. on Aug. 25.
Funds raised will go toward new parkour equipment.
"We miss all our gymnasts," says Scrannage, adding a thank-you to everyone for being so understanding and continually supporting the club.
Dance
While there are a few different dance groups operating in St. Paul, the community's longest running club - Silhouette Dance School - has recently announced it will go ahead with a season for 2020/21.
"Like many things throughout the province and around the world, Silhouette Dance School was abruptly shut down last spring when restrictions were put in place to help stop the spread of COVID-19," reads a media release, emailed to Lakeland This Week by the club's president Leah Burton. The club will be using the province's Guidance for Sport, Physical Activity, and Recreation document to help guide its season.
Changes to scheduling and maximum class sizes will be made, along with changes to how the classes will be structured.
While the club wishes things could return to how they were bring done, it will "adapt to a new normal."
"We do count ourselves as fortunate that classes can be offered," reads the release.
School Rules
For school sports, St. Paul Education has included after-school sports in its revised re-entry plan, but a crucial piece of the plan also prohibits community use of schools. A number of clubs not connected to the school division normally rent space in area schools, for example the track and field club and indoor soccer program.
As per Scenario 1, "In order to reduce the number of people in the building, community use of indoor spaces in schools will not be permitted," confirmed Superintendent Glen Brodziak.
As for school sports, the division's language is: "A person can only participate in a second/different cohort if they complete activity with one cohort and then not participate with another cohort for 14 days." This applies to school sports and community sports and clubs, states Brodziak.
