The Ontario government was supposed to give notice regarding “recreational activities and gyms” as of October 5th, 2020. I have not seen any update as of that date via the News or other sources yet. There is still very much we do not know going forward regarding the ability for us to "safely" play our beloved sport. Like has the number of infections has actually significantly increased or more people are just able to get tested nowadays? However, as per this article here: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/hockey-covid-questions-answered-1.5632890, there does seem to be concrete evidence supporting that colder climates (BOTH outdoor and indoors) will facilitate more aggressive spread of the virus and the increasing number of negative symptoms and critical cases from those infected offer evidence that the virus is mutating. It has become more deadly as time goes on and our natural immune systems aren't yet able to collectively move us toward a more positive direction. Until better treatments or vaccines are available, we live in the reality that this virus keeps us apart and "distant" from more than just our ability to say hi to our neighbours the way we would in the past.
COVID-19 has caused many changes globally, I even know of some friends who have sold their vehicles regardless of whether they are staying in the country. The temporary dip in gas prices also has not been reflected in a temporary drop in essential goods from lower freight costs as mentioned in the Pump documentary [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2630916/] As an active participant, I can testify that hockey certainly isn't the same as it was last year. We have become citizens of the world, far from being the only country that has to make changes in our love for sports due to the pandemic. Some of our goalies may have also relocated or returned to where they were from before having to attend classes in person.
After reading the preamble, are we open for business again yet? The short answer is yes. However, mindfulness that not all of our existing and new staff (goalies), not to mention our previous business connections are willing to play under the new "conditions" is essential. Might as well call them "CO-ditions" or some sort of pun to reference COVID. Honestly speaking, the "return to safe play" initiatives certainly seem to be just as ineffective as the "return to work" and "return to school" plans considering infection rates are raising exponentially all around.
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/health-54540544
Furthermore, our feature of trying to get at least one of our admin team members to scope out the talent level of players and goalies to ensure “a good fit” may also be extremely limited at the moment as the regulations for Covid-Safety most likely does not permit spectators at any of the rinks we are providing service. You must also be mindful that such an activity, due to our low "overhead", only pays the admins performing this function legally mandated minimum wage, at best. Thus unfortunately for newer clients, we may not be able to guarantee the “next game free" or other quality assurance we had in the past. Especially if it's a newer goalie who recently joined our staff. Most unfortunate that we have soft-launched the business the same year as the discovery of Covid-2019. Somewhere around December 2019 I also contracted a more severe infection that left me with "cold or flu" like symptoms for around 4 weeks and the doctors have decided to put me on inhalers again regularly as of May 2020 as well. Was it COVID? Perhaps, but testing was not available then and even if it was, from my understanding of the latest updates on testing is even testing is still not perfected yet. [https://www.bbc.com/news/health-54296223]
I will use the analogy of perhaps my "best game ever played" (so far). At the very tail end of the "month long infection that will not end". In a tournament floor hockey title match that went on for about 2 hours, the score was exactly tied with both "goalies" only letting in a few goals each at half-time. As most hockey enthusiasts know, there's an obvious tendency to exert too much responsibility on the outcome or score on the goalie. By the end of the last period in the second half I got a shutout and my team's score doubled. WE won, but you see the illustration here that it was a "team effort". The victory was a combination of my effort to put up the second-half-shutout AND my team for scoring just as many goals in the second half as they did in the first. I believe we need to apply a similar mentality towards COVID-19, the governing authorities and society as a whole cannot beat this virus on its own.
There are currently no regulations, yet, against "goalie rentals". However, I would like you to keep in mind that for COVID safety, certain leagues have decided to postpone inter-team play. Goalie requests or new goalie registrations are still welcome, but do be mindful of our more "limited" ability to provide service during these times.
Hope and pray we all have a safe season,
Kevin
On behalf of the WAGS Administrative Team
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