March 16, 2020: Volleyball
Canada is looking ahead to its international and domestic hosted events
this year, including 2020 Nationals in May, and will update
participants and members as frequently as possible.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, Volleyball Canada will take the advice of local and federal government bodies and decide by April 15 on
whether to cancel Nationals. Please note a decision may be made sooner,
depending on how the situation evolves.
The health and safety of participants is of great concern, and we are
closely following public health guidelines when considering all
potential outcomes.
Volleyball Canada will publish the Nationals refund protocol on its web site shortly.
Developments as of Monday, March 16, 2020:
- As of today, the Beach Volleyball World Tour will be suspended until the end of April, with all scheduled events during that period postponed to a later date or cancelled. From the statement: “The FIVB recognises that the COVID-19 outbreak is rapidly evolving and so it is likely that there will be further changes to the beach volleyball calendar. We are therefore already in contact with the IOC about potentially revising the beach volleyball qualification system for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.”
- The Volleyball Canada Beach Training Centre in Toronto is closed, until April 06 or later if necessary. National Team beach athletes have returned or are in the process of returning to Canada, and have been instructed to follow a 14-day isolation period upon return by Volleyball Canada’s support staff.
- Indoor athletes have been instructed to return home from overseas (pro teams) if possible and follow the current health advice and COVID-19 precautions. Indoor centres in Gatineau, QC and Richmond, B.C. are closed.
- Volleyball Canada is evaluating the viability of hosting NORCECA indoor events, scheduled for Edmonton in May.
- Volleyball Canada staff members are working remotely, and email is the suggested best way to reach employees, as head office is not fully staffed at this time. The April 17-18 in-person meeting for the Board and Staff is cancelled.
- Regional Excellence Programs that were scheduled over the next few weeks are cancelled. All upcoming camps and trials are being evaluated.
- Volleyball Canada applauds the decision of the PTAs in their measures to postpone or cancel events, as directed by their local health authorities.
- Previous information on this how this crisis is affecting our events and programs can be found at www.volleyball.ca
When in doubt, please follow the advice of your local health authority, as well as the following web pages:
Alberta (site of Edmonton Nationals) Health Services web page regarding COVID-19:
https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page16944.aspx
Government of Canada web page:
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19.html
For our National Teams, we are closely monitoring the updates issued by the Canadian Olympic Committee, in partnership with other relevant organizations: https://www.csiontario.ca/news/update-4-advisory-covid-19