Good Afternoon Voyageurs Family,
I hope you are all doing as well as can be during these roller coaster days of COVID-19, settled into your new academic routine and enjoying your fall reading week. Unfortunately our COVID situation around the province remains very unclear and challenging. Therefore today, October 15th, the OUA, under the direction of its Board of Directors, announced the cancellation of all OUA-sanctioned sport programming and championships up to March 31st, 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic
Once again this news is extremely difficult to relay to you, our student athletes, coaches and university community. When the Fall term was cancelled, there was hope at that time that this pandemic would have been entering its final stages and sport would find its way back into all our lives in the new year. However, as we have all recently seen, this dark shadow is hovering over the world longer than we all expected. The health and safety of all our student-athletes, coaches and stakeholders remains our top priority and I fully support the OUA Board of Director’s decision. Our focus now shifts to continuing to prepare our student-athletes for the Fall of 2021 and design supporting programs for the continued development in their chosen sport and academic pathway.
For all of you, this news is not easy and coping mechanisms may be stretched thin after the past number of months. We are here for you and have resources available to support you, listed below. If you need to access any or all of these resources, I encourage you to do so, even if it is just to chat or vent.
To further discuss this situation, you will receive an invite via email to a student-athlete town hall, scheduled for next week, details will be sent out by Monday. I encourage you to join if you are able. I know many of you have questions and attached to this email is an FAQ from the OUA that may help to answer some of those questions ahead of next week’s town hall. We also will continue to update the COVID-19 link on our website with vital information regarding eligibility, AFA’s and all other student-athlete related business.
I can assure you that this was not a decision taken lightly or without extensive research but it is what is necessary to keep you, our student-athletes, safe and healthy which has always been our number one priority.
Yours in Sport,
Pete
Related Resources
Peter Hellstrom - Athletic Director - phellstrom@laurentian.ca
You may call 705-673-6506 during office hours (9:00-4:30 pm). Counsellors will remain available for follow-up. We will determine the best way to support your needs and direct you to the most appropriate service or resources.
Additional counselling/crisis/support lines you can reach out to include:
Good2Talk
1-866-925-5454: All students can access 24/7.
You can also access Good2Talk's 24/7 support via text by texting GOOD2TALKto 686868. https://good2talk.ca/
Bounceback
Bounceback’s services are still accessible to students and all residents of Ontario https://bouncebackontario.ca/
Big White Wall
Big White Wall is a peer support community that is a great tool for students. https://www.bigwhitewall.com