Plans for return to play differ for Saints compared to Lancers in an effort to move forward with season

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The St. Clair College Saints and University of Windsor Lancers are taking different approaches in returning to game action this week.

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The Saints were the first back in action on Wednesday with the men’s and women’s basketball teams taking on Lambton College at the SportsPlex.

For the Saints to get there, it meant rapid COVID-19 testing on Tuesday in order to be cleared to take the court on Wednesday.

“It’s a pretty easy process,” said Saints’ guard Logan Kucera, who scored a game-high 25 points and added 10 rebounds to lead St. Clair to a 67-63 win over the Lambton Lions at the SportsPlex. “We’ve been waiting a long time for our current season to start, like a year and a half, and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. You have to follow the rules like everyone else.”

When it comes to return to play, the Ontario Colleges Athletic Association has taken a different approach compared to the Ontario University Athletics.

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Aside from rapid testing before games, college sports will have no fans in the stands until at least Feb. 21, which is when the provincial government is scheduled to move to the second step of its three-step reopening plan.

“It’s not a full step back, but it is an important first step,” said St. Clair’s Ron Seguin, who is vice-president of international relations, campus development and student services. “It’s nerve-racking as a coach or player. You don’t know 24 hours before game what the roster looks like.

“We’d like to have full crowds with concession stands and sell souvenirs, but it’s not the full gamut yet.”

Seguin said St. Clair would have moved forward with fans, but not all of the OCAA’s 24 members were ready to make that commitment.

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“A lot of the Toronto schools are still dealing with COVID to a more acute degree,” Seguin said. “This is a packed school with 6,000 students. We’re ready, but others weren’t and didn’t want to jeopardize the season.”

So, for now, players will have to be satisfied with hitting the court and not having family or friends in the stands.

“It was weird not having fans, but our bench is loud and there were a few others around,” said Kucera, who saw teammate Grace Smrke finish with 11 points and sister Jana Kucera add 10 points in Wednesday’s win. “I just try to focus on the game.”

The Lancers get rolling on Friday with women’s hockey and men’s and women’s volleyball, but it won’t be a jammed packed facility taking in the games.

“We’re letting fans in, but everyone has to be vaccinated to enter the facility and follow the protocols in place since the start of the new year,” Lancers’ athletic director Mike Havey said. “Campus police will enforce the rules and, if we have to ask guests to leave, we’ll ask guests to leave.”

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Capacity at Fairall Fieldhouse will be limited to 400 fans, which is under the 500 fans the school would be allowed to bring in. For hockey, spectators will be capped at 200 at the Capri Complex. There will be no concessions and fans must be masked at all times.

“The OUA is not telling us we cannot have fans,” Havey said. “They’re leaving it up to each institution and I think there are a few not having fans until the end of the month.”

As well, the OUA is not requiring athletes, who are all fully vaccinated, to submit to testing.

“We’re not doing mandatory testing, but non-mandatory screening is available and rapid antigen tests are available and we’re recommending student-athletes do one the day they compete.”

While schedules have been adjusted and leagues will try to accommodate rescheduling a game if one has to be postponed, the reality is that the timelines to finish this season are tight and an outbreak could jeopardize the chance to get a postponed game in.

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“It’s not business as usual, but we’re offering an opportunity to get back with the hope the (virus) spread comes down,” Havey said. “We acknowledge there are risks and there might be some interruptions we’ll have to manage.”

The alternative, of another lost season, is something everyone wants to avoid, especially at the college level where some programs are just two years and a year of athletics was already lost in 2020-21.

“We were worried about having nothing,” Seguin said in reference to when Omicron shut things down again. “All the metrics around us seem to be getting better around us and we’ll roll with the punches a couple weeks.”

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