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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, A pr il 15 ,2 02 1 | 4 Paid for by the Government of Ontario Your turn is coming soon. Ontario's COVID-19 vaccine plan is helping to stop the spread and save lives. Thousands of people across the province are getting vaccinated everyday. As vaccinations continue, we need to stay the course to protect those we love.Wear a mask.Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Find out when, where and how to get vaccinated at ontario.ca/covidvaccineplan or call 1-888-999-6488 for assistance in more than 300 languages. As one Waterloo-area sport league made the tough decision to cancel its upcoming season last week, Cathy Fletcher, exec- utive director of the Water- loo Minor Girls Softball As- sociation, was still hoping for programming to re- sume. House leagues are a lot different than rep leagues, explained Fletcher, who said the girls softball asso- ciation was one of the few local minor sports league to have a house league last year and that it still hopes to have one this spring. But adhering to health and safety protocol can be challenging with players and coaches who aren't as familiar with rules and re- strictions that differ be- tween the province, munic- ipal facilities and govern- ing bodies for the sport. Even rep teams chosen last fall were told by Soft- ball Canada that they can have no in-person training whatsoever for a 28-day pe- riod. Minor sport is consid- ered non-essential, Fletch- er said, so all indoor facil- ities are shut down, and permits for field house time and arena floor space were pulled. Coaches and players are currently conducting training sessions virtually, with cameras set up in basements and backyards. Fletcher said the catch here is that up to five neigh- bourhood kids can go to a school field, and as long as they're not officially a team, they can hit ground- ers. "It is insane," she said. "Organized sport, we're not allowed to do it, which for me is frustrating beyond belief." While meaningful games were supposed to begin the first week of May, nobody is going to be ready, Fletcher said. Countless hours of work have been for not, but rep teams were able to hold practices in February and March. Last year, house league was limited mainly to in- structional drills; scrim- mages within small groups were held at the end of the season. But Fletcher said main- taining programming is in the best interest of chil- dren's mental health, and the response they received from parents and families was extremely gratifying. "We want to provide for the kids and families; we're just waiting to be told how to do it," she said. "We are going to run programming, it's just a matter if how it's going to look." There are about 800 kids signed up to play house league in the Waterloo Mi- nor Baseball Association this spring. Last year, the entire season was can- celled. "The season ends mid July and we couldn't get on diamond before July 15," said association president, Mark Schram. He's staying optimistic, however. "We're going to play," he said. "You can print that... I'm not betting my life on it by any means, but I'm con- fident we're going to play." On Thursday, April 8, the Forest Hill T-ball Asso- ciation made the call to cancel its season for the second straight year. For league president Laura Harrington, making the decision was difficult. "But we are looking at the positive," she said. "We are so overly prepared for next year right now. We've got our shirts, we are all set, so hopefully everyone will just be really excited and it will be an extra spe- cial season, because we've got two seasons that we couldn't play." Programming is on hold for all other sports groups too, such as the Waterloo Minor Soccer Club that's monitoring the situation along with Ontario Soccer, and says it will share new information with member- ship as soon as possible. SPORTS LEAGUES REMAIN IN LIMBO DUE TO COVID-19 BILL JACKSON bjackson@torstar.ca NEWS SCAN THE CODE for more local news. Players would be gearing up to hit the fields soon at this time of year. John Edwards/Metroland