After months of deliberation, the organizers of the postponed 2020 Saskatchewan Summer Games have officially cancelled the Lloydminster hosted event. (Facebook/Lloydminster Summer Games)

By Josh Ryan

Games no more

Postponed 2020 Lloydminster Summer Games cancelled

Dec 22, 2020 | 2:20 PM

Anyone holding out hope for seeing the delayed 2020 Saskatchewan Summer Games this summer will have to wait until 2024.

In a joint announcement, the Saskatchewan Games Council, City of Lloydminster and Lloydminster 2020 Host Society cancelled the event entirely, due to health and safety concerns amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. This means the next iteration of the games will not take place until 2024, returning to its quadrennial cycle. Saskatchewan Games Council Executive Director Mark Bracken said the council was grateful to the community leaders who dedicated time and energy into the event’s preparation, and the community as a whole for rallying around the event.

“We look forward to the next opportunity where we can work together to deliver an exceptional, safe, and celebratory Saskatchewan Summer Games for young developing athletes, coaches and officials across our province,” Bracken said.

In the announcement, Host Society Chair Kevin Kusch said they cannot offer the experience athletes and their supporters deserve, considering the guidelines in place for team sports. The games are one of the largest amateur sporting events in the province, drawing more than 2,000 people from across Saskatchewan.

“From the beginning, our board has maintained the games need to be a memorable event,” Kusch said. “For many athletes, this is their first experience competing at the provincial level, and as a host society, one of our duties is to provide them with a true Saskatchewan Summer Games experience.

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“It was a three-way decision, we each had input,” Lloydminster Mayor Gerald Aalbers said. “At the end of the day, the health of the athlete and the experience of what we could offer was at the front of everyone’s mind.”

Aalbers said this had been on organizers minds for months, with their eye on the calendar for where the appropriate cutoff date would be on a decision. With an understanding that widespread vaccination will take time, the idea of being able to pull off the event became increasingly unlikely.

“To have everyone and feel comfortable to step forward as organizers, volunteers, the athletes themselves and their coaches and parents, we needed enough lead time,” he said.

However, the event could still return to the border city in 2024, as Lloydminster will hold the right of first refusal, rather than having to go through the bidding process again. While Aalbers doesn’t expect all of the committee members to hang around for four years and there’s no certainty what budgets will look like in a few years, he said the community will want to see the event here and Lloydminster will be ready to showcase itself to the province by then, should the opportunity arise.

“We’ve done it in the past and I know this community rises up for volunteers,” he said. “We’ll do our best to ensure that we will put on one of the best Summer Games ever in Saskatchewan, if and when we apply and get chosen to host again.”

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josh.ryan@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JoshRyanSports