Medicine Hat Rattlers Brooke Christie (5) and Megan Hoeber (15) leap to block a shot by Ambrose Lions' Julia Kemper during an ACAC women's volleyball match at the Snake Pit on Feb. 14.--NEWS PHOTO RYAN MCCRACKEN
rmccracken@medicinehatnews.com@MHNMcCracken
The Medicine Hat Rattlers have opted to forgo competition in this year’s Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference winter season for basketball, volleyball and futsal.
Medicine Hat College president and CEO Kevin Shufflebotham says the decision – announced late Tuesday afternoon – was reached after extensive discussions with other colleges across Alberta. It didn’t come lightly, but Shufflebotham says it’s ultimately the right decision for student-athletes and staff.
“If we consider the health and safety of our students and coaches as our No. 1 priority, it was a difficult decision to make. But as a collective I think it was the right decision,” Shufflebotham told the News, adding that the call was made in co-ordination with all the ACAC’s member schools in Alberta. “Our comprehensive community colleges meet probably every two weeks. One of the items we were constantly looking at was our participation in the winter 2021 season. When we looked at it, COVID numbers are on the rise across Alberta, many communities are on the watch, public gathering restrictions are in place for Edmonton and Calgary.
“We’re encouraging students to continue practising over the winter season and obviously if they had scholarships for example, we will certainly continue to honour those.”
The release also mentions that participation in future ACAC competition will be evaluated on a semester-by-semester basis. With soccer, golf and cross-country running currently slated for a potential spring return, Shufflebotham says those sports could proceed as planned, but a final decision on that likely won’t be made until early 2021.
“I think that’s really what I have my eyes on next, what’s going to happen with those,” said Shufflebotham. “I think our athletes, they’re known for their commitment to excellence in the classroom and in competition, and they’re also leaders and role models. This is why, for me the decision was absolutely so difficult and I can’t imagine how they’re feeling right now … We’ll do everything we can to support them.”
