Soccer is part of Group C, which means it can have cohorts of 50 based on the amount of contact in the sport (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

RETURN TO PLAY IN B.C.

ViaSport BC clarifies some of the confusion around “cohorts” for Phase 3 of the return-to-play plan

Aug 28, 2020 | 8:55 AM

KAMLOOPS — While entire seasons have been cancelled this summer due to COVID-19, there is still hope for some amateur athletes preparing for their fall season and itching to get back.

ViaSport BC, the governing body regulating the return-to-play protocol, has approved “modified” games in cohorts.

“Within the cohort model, you can create some sort of mini-league and compete against teams within the cohort,” said CEO of ViaSport BC Charlene Krepiakevich. “It won’t be the way it was, but there will be an opportunity to have that sense of competition.”

For Kamloops sports organizations, local teams will stay within the Interior and travel to nearby cities like Kelowna and Salmon Arm.

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But the size of the cohort depends on the sport and how much contact is involved. Sports like soccer, hockey and baseball are impacted differently.

“Baseball has a cohort of 100. There’s flexibility within that cohort to create mini-leagues within that group of 100,” said Krepiakevich. “Group C is where soccer and hockey sit and that’s a cohort size of 50, and that’s up to four teams because the greater amount of contact.”

On Thursday, ViaSport BC hosted a webinar online, welcoming different sporting organizations who came to the table wanting clarification on how to proceed, especially within the cohort model.

“There’s an opportunity to play within a cohort for a period of time, and then if you want to change the cohort wait two weeks and then set up a new cohort, so that another mini-league can take place, so there’s lot of creative ways of making this happen,” she noted.

ViaSport BC says it is easing sporting organizations into Phase 3. The size of organizations across the province could dictate when they return to the field.

“The roll out will depend on the capacity of the local organization and the access to facilities, access to volunteers and coaches, so you might see hockey proceed in one community and it might not be ready to go in another. Same thing for soccer and others.”