Summer soccer has been cancelled.

(KATHY MICHAELS / iNFOnews.ca)

Parents across the Central Okanagan got another reminder that this is going to be a very different kind of summer.

"Last night, Central Okanagan Youth Soccer Association made the tough decision to cancel the 2020 outdoor soccer season as it stands," read an update to parents sent out Friday afternoon, April 24.

The organization said it's "still hopeful" that children will get a chance to play soccer in 2020, but it won’t be in the format that players registered for so refunds will be issued to all members starting next week.

If there’s a safe opportunity to get a soccer season in for 2020, the association will move quickly to help organize a new season.

While not all outdoor leagues have signalled a decision to pull the plug it's very likely to happen, given that provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said it would require significant adaptation before it could go ahead.

“We know that it’s less risky outside than inside. We know how important it is to have physical exercise, particularly for young people over the summer months and into the fall. I think there are ways it could be done but we have to do it safely so we’re not sharing water bottles, sharing food, we’re not coming together and we’re respecting those distances, those safe distances but still being able to carry on," Henry said, in a press conference, April 21.

"We are also thinking about the numbers of people that are involved and we may have to limit that for a period of time – for this summer, for the coming year – so we don’t have large crowds watching games, for example. All of those things are things I can give some parameters around but I need the people who are involved in setting up those types of team sports to think about how we can do it in this new normal for now, recognizing that it’s not going to be forever but it is going to be for this next season."

Henry did add, however, that we need to find ways to do sport that allows, "young people, to get out there and be physically active and to be together.”

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