Roll up your sleeves if you want to play baseball for the Victoria HarbourCats or Nanaimo NightOwls. The West Coast League teams, owned by the same company, announced the measure Tuesday for all its players, coaches and staff. That will include the company’s new Victoria Golden Tide team, which begins play this fall in the B.C. collegiate and university league.
“Our people are out in the community. Our programs travel — we take ferries, and cross borders — we cannot operate in a bubble. The programs are too complex,” said Jim Swanson, GM and managing partner of the HabourCats and NightOwls of the WCL, which features NCAA Div. 1 collegiate players in summer ball.
The HarbourCats did not play the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the pandemic. The NightOwls inaugural 2021 season was cancelled. The teams are set to return in 2022.
Meanwhile, Pacific FC of the pro soccer Canadian Premier League said it was unable to provide a team vaccination rate at this time.
The Victoria Royals of the Western Hockey League do not have a definitive policy yet on player vaccinations.
“We don’t have an answer to that. The league is assessing that now,” said Royals GM and head coach Dan Price. “They are working with each health jurisdiction, including in the U.S.”
The pro golfers coming to Victoria for the Reliance Properties DCBank Open from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3 at Uplands are not required to be vaccinated but it is being recommended.
“We’ve not mandated it for the Tour but we strongly encourage it,” said Scott Pritchard, executive director of the Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada.
All Canadian athletes in the just-completed Tokyo Olympics, and upcoming Tokyo Paralympics, including more than 75 from the Island or Island-based, are fully vaccinated.
Meanwhile, PFC has not asked for proof of vaccination for fans entering Starlight Stadium for CPL games.
The WHL is formulating its policy, said Price.
