The Prince George Track and Field Club has cancelled the entire 2020 Track and Field season.
“With our training facility closed, no congregating allowed, and now the BC Summer Games cancelled, we determined it would be extremely difficult to salvage a season for our athletes,” said Elena Thomas, club president in a statement posted on association’s website. “We are working with Trackie to refund all fees paid for the outdoor season only. Please be patient.”
Trackie is a Canada-wide, multisport registration system that is working at maximum capacity to refund thousands of athletes involved in hundreds of activities. Thomas said if, by the end of May, you have not received your refund, please the club (princegeorgetrackandfield@gmail.com).
“Again, we are sorry for the inconvenience and hope you are not too disappointed to join us again next year when we hope to showcase more improvements to Masich Place Stadium,” she said.
She acknowledged that the decision will leave coaches and junior coaches without athletes and summer jobs.
“Please understand that we are still committed to helping you develop as a coach,” she said. “If before the next season begins, you are interested in attending any coach professional development activities that could be shared with the club, please contact the board. We will do our best to support you. We do hope to offer at least one coach training program at the beginning of next year for any new coaches starting out.”
Although there won’t be a season this year, the club is still offering the Al Rivas/Angie Kohut Memorial scholarship to qualifying high school graduates who were members of the club last season. Application deadline is July 31, 2020.
“Everyone, please keep yourself in the club loop,” she said. “We will do our best to keep up to date information on the club web page (https://www.pgtrackandfield.ca/). Perhaps over the summer, if the congregating ban is lifted, we can all meet at the stadium to enjoy a few hours of the sports we love. We will still need volunteers and officials for next season, especially since we are hosting the BC Track and Field Championship Jamboree in June. We may need to host officiating workshops out of season to make sure club members are ready.”