Back To Stage One

Maybe it's a good thing that hockey season for most non-professional teams in Manitoba is over because the province came out with new provisions today after case numbers rose once again in the Keystone Province. As expected, there were lockdowns and harder restrictions put in place in order to reduce the numbers once again, and these lockdowns will once again affect the amateur athletes that call this province home. If you're looking for a bumbling government who has fumbled the handling of this pandemic time and time again, ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the province of Manitoba!

I know this isn't Politics Blog In Canada, but Manitoba made a decision today that once again affects thousands of people who had plans this summer, but those plans are now on hold until the government gets its act together.

According to the new rules passed down at 6pm CT today, the province of Manitoba will now see organized teams sports, both at indoor venues and on outdoor fields, shut down for at least the next three weeks as Manitoba moves into its new lockdown. That means there are no sports whatsoever being played, and we already know a lot of kids play softball, soccer, and summer hockey. After having an entire winter season cancelled at both the school and amateur levels, this feels like the government is just piling on at this point.

Don't get me wrong: we need to beat COVID-19. This has gone on much longer than it should have, and the worst part is that everyone seemed to see this third lockdown coming for Manitoba excpet those who actually enforce the lockdowns. We've watched as British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes have struggled to contain this third wave, and our government in Manitoba kept telling us that we needed to be vigilant in protecting ourselves.

As case numbers began to rise, Manitoba would have been wise to read the Nova Scotia playbook and shut down earlier than they did. Dr. Brent Roussin, Chief Provincial Public Health Officer, even allude to this in a March interview when he stated, "I think that's probably something we'd have to consider earlier on."

What a tangled web one has weaved.

With the announcement of the three-week lockdown, no sports will be played in Manitoba by anyone of any ages until the start of June. If the case numbers haven't dropped to an acceptable level by then, expect the lockdown to be extended further which will seriously impact seasons across all summer sporting activities.

For a guy who has been enshrined into the Manitoba Softball Hall of Fame both as an individual and a team member, you'd think that Premier Brian Pallister would be a little more congnizant of the effect that shutting down all sports would have. I get that we're in the midst of a pandemic, but had Roussin and Pallister simply locked down earlier as Roussin said he should have considered summer sports would have been far less affected by a decision that should have been made three weeks earlier.

To all who play softball, soccer, football, slo-pitch, and summer hockey among the vast number of team sports that this affects, I feel your pain. I usually spend my summer evenings playing and umpire slo-pitch, and it's a blast to be out on the field, having some laughs, and playing the game. That will be put on hold until future notice now because the government of Manitoba simply can't get its act together when it comes to doing the intelligent thing they already had in their playbook as per Dr. Roussin's own words.

If the adage "those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it" is a self-fulfilling prophecy, this Manitoba government is stuck in its own version of Groundhog Day when it comes to repeating the same mistakes over and over and over. The only problem is that the people of Manitoba are the one who are paying for those mistakes.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!