Former Medicine Hat Mavericks infielder and current head coach Nolan Rattai (File Photo)

By Scott Roblin

WCBL Season Cancelled

WCBL cancels entirety of 2020 summer baseball season

May 27, 2020 | 10:57 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – After much speculation the Western Canadian Baseball League finally pulled the plug on its 2020 season on Wednesday evening.

At an emergency meeting of the league’s board of governors, an unanimous vote was held to cancel the entirety of the upcoming summer season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We looked at different models to reduce the gathering size and didn’t get any approvals on reducing gathering size,” said WCBL commissioner Kevin Kvame. “Teams were really questioning how they would deal with that gathering size even if we had got an okay to make it financially viable.”

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The WCBL had previously pushed back the start date of the 2020 season to late June or early July as the timeline for opening pitch in May was deemed unfeasible last month.

In a statement released on Wednesday night, the WCBL said ‘it would be impossible to guarantee the safety of the players, coaches, umpires, host families, staff, volunteers and fans during the COVID-19 pandemic situation to the extent required by authorities.’

According to the league, options such as pushing back the start date to July 4 and playing games with only Canadian players were explored, however it was determined that there were too many logistical hurdles.

“We had a couple hours to try to let as many of our players know what was going on before the public release,” said Medicine Hat Mavericks owner and general manager Greg Morrison. “It’s settling in a little bit for me personally, but we got to take the silver lining and look towards next year.”

The release also stated that due to the Canada-United States border remaining closed until June 22 and a 14-day isolation period required for those traveling to Canada, there would not be enough time to carry out a collegiate summer season.

According to Morrison, the Mavericks are expected to survive the cancelled season despite not being able to take to the field for a calendar year.

Much of that is due to continued support from sponsors and season ticket holders who have deferred their payments to the following year.

“In our model there’s not a lot of off-season salaries, there’s not a lot of off-season expenses,” said Morrison. “So, for us it’s biding our time. We send out an email to our season ticket holders, every email I opened they said, ‘Go ahead, put our purchases toward next year.’ So, that for us is huge not having to refund those season tickets for this year.”

Originally scheduled to have opened their 2020 season on Friday night, the Mavericks had completed their recruitment process for the year.

Thanks to a ruling by the NCAA this spring however, any players who were set to enter their final season of college eligibility will get a chance to play again next summer.

“I don’t think there’s any need for us to do anything on that,” said Kvame. “If players still have their NCAA eligibility and are playing next spring if they’re a senior, they’re still going to be eligible to play in the Western Canadian Baseball League.”

Plans are reportedly in place to implement a league-wide strategy to ‘stay relevant and connected until we can get back on the field,’ though the WCBL is asking fans to provide support to teams as they try to survive the cancelled season.

Both the Melville Millionaires and Yorkton Cardinals had previously announced they would be taking a leave of absense from the WCBL due to financial issues and their fates are still up in the air according to Kvame.

“They’re still looking at the situation,” he said. “Of course, this hasn’t helped their cause as a leave of absence. But, they have to as communities make the decision whether they can be viable entities in the league and be good partners in the league, or whether the long-term future isn’t for them.”

The Edmonton Prospects are currently in search of a home following the expiry of their lease at RE/MAX Field and rumours have been swirling regarding a move to Spruce Grove.

Aside from those situations, the league isn’t projecting any teams folding in the near future and say the expansion Sylvan Lake Gulls are still expected to join the WCBL in 2021.

“They were on the call last night and they’re all eager to start signing players,” said Kvame. “They’re waiting for the green light on that and that will happen later in June.”

In the meantime, the Mavericks are still holding small camps for interested ball players and continue to sell merchandise at Athletic Park in the hopes of recouping some of the money lost this year.

With nothing but time on his hands until opening day 2021, Morrison is turning his focus onto improving the visitor experience in all aspects with the goal of coming back stronger than ever.

“We’re going to get better,” said Morrison. “We’re going to improve our on-field promotions, we’re going to get surveying feedback on what we can improve at the concessions. So, we are going to be bigger and better in 2021, I can guarantee that.”