Huskies sports teams to play under revised formats for 2020-2021

SASKATOON — The University of Saskatchewan Huskies sports teams will be playing under alternate formats for the 2020-2021 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Canada West Universities Athletic Association announced the changes Monday, which involved more than a month of work by the board and the Canada West sport committee.

"While there remains uncertainty around when university sport will return, the CW Board of Directors has worked diligently to ensure that when it does the conference and our members are prepared to navigate the difficult financial realities ahead of us," President Clint Hamilton said in a news release.

"I'd like to thank the CW Sport Committee and my fellow Board members for their leadership through these challenging times. We look forward to continuing to work with our colleagues at U SPORTS and across the country to ensure university sport remains an integral part of the campus experience."

The Huskies football team would play a five game schedule and would play each team once. The conference currently has six teams and some teams would play more road games than home games. Evan Daum, Canada West Associate Director, Communications and Marketing, says there are no plans for neutral site games.

The Huskies football team usually plays an eight-game regular season schedule starting in late August or early September.

Formats for men’s and women’s soccer, hockey, rugby, field hockey, volleyball and basketball were also announced.

Men’s and women’s soccer teams will each play 10 games. The men would play in a league comprised of two divisions, while the women’s team would play a schedule with teams split into three divisions.

Women’s rugby would play a four-game schedule, facing each team once, while the women’s field hockey team would play eight games in two double round robin tournaments,

Both men’s and women’s hockey teams would each play 20 games during the regular season. All basketball and volleyball teams would play 16 regular season games.