Season not cancelled at this stage, options being explored by Competitions Committee

Vancouver, BC – March 20, 2020: The BC Rugby Board has voted unanimously to cancel the event hosting of the 2020 BC Rugby Club Finals due to the COVID-19 emergency. These were planned to take place on May 2 at Westshore RFC, with logistical and financial tie-ins to the HSBC Canada Women’s 7s event which has officially been postponed today [ref: World Rugby announcement].

Given the Province’s current state of emergency and public health emergency, BC Rugby has determined that it is unreasonable to plan for an event 6 weeks away that would involve over 400 people in just the teams competing.
 
This is not a cancellation of the season which remains suspended due to Rugby Canada’s directive to suspend all rugby activities until April 10. Maintaining an assumption that rugby activities can resume by mid to late April, the Competitions Committee is currently exploring different options to conclude each league, which may or may not include Championship matches.

The Committee is scheduled to meet again on Wednesday evening and their decisions will be shared quickly with the rugby community.

Since this cancellation to host the Finals on the Island, the Board also considered and approved the 2021 BC Rugby Club Finals date and venue to align with the HSBC Canada Women’s 7s event next year. Therefore, we are happy to announce that the 2021 BC Rugby Club Finals will take place on May 8 at Westshore RFC.
 
“We were working hard with the Canada Sevens staff to deliver a huge weekend of international and domestic rugby on the Island, and it’s obvious that this is no longer possible in 2020” said BC Rugby CEO, Annabel Kehoe. “We remain committed to bringing this major event to the Island and I want to thank the Board for quickly responding and making the decision to re-commit to Club Finals on Vancouver Island in 2021.”

“While we are disappointed that we won’t be able to host the BC Finals this year we share the entire rugby community’s concern over the current pandemic and absolutely support the decisions being made by various levels of government and by BC Rugby. We are grateful for the quick planning and response from BC Rugby and are now excited and looking forward to what we can deliver in 2021.” Said Cam Nish, Vice-President of Westshore RFC.
 
Planning for the next season will be shortly underway with all men’s teams asked to declare by April 1, a slight extension from the previous deadline. To meet this timeline, BC Rugby will be making available conference call facilities at no charge to allow Club leaders to virtually meet to discuss their plans for the forthcoming season.

More information about BC Rugby

The British Columbia Rugby Union, commonly known as BC Rugby, is the governing body for Rugby in British Columbia and is a Provincial Union of Rugby Canada, the national governing body. Representing over 7,500 individuals registered through around 60 Member Clubs and Associations across the Province, BC Rugby leads and manages the sport with the aim to grow participation and develop excellence in all games of Rugby and in all facets of the sport.

Web: bcrugby.com

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