May 2020

Baseball Alberta has announced that it will be cancelling the upcoming season due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Below is the letter from Baseball Alberta, and their proposed refund policy.

“Baseball Alberta’s Board of Directors has made the difficult decision to cancel ALL in-person Baseball Alberta sanctioned events and activities until September 1, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

With the current Provincial Health orders and restrictions in place, such as social distancing, gathering limits and limitations on non-essential travel along with numerous municipal closures, we deemed this to be the best course of action to ensure the safety of our membership. The health and safety of our athletes, coaches, officials, volunteers and fans was our main priority in arriving at this difficult decision.

This is a very fluid situation and is subject to change as new information becomes available. Baseball Alberta is currently developing return-to-train protocols to allow for the resumption of in-person baseball activities once it is deemed safe to do so.”

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On May 15 an update from the Government of Alberta included:

“The Government of Alberta has announced Alberta’s relaunch strategy, with Stage 1 providing some additional outdoor recreation opportunities. The City of Edmonton is following the Alberta Government’s Guidance for Outdoor Recreation which, among other points, notes the following:

• Municipalities may choose to open fields, playgrounds and courts for public use, but league play is not permitted.
• Activities in public spaces should not include the sharing of common equipment, unless the individuals are from the same household.

 Baseball diamonds and soccer fields in park spaces are open to the public for casual use in accordance with Alberta Health direction and guidelines whereby users must adhere to 2 metre physical distancing rules, ensuring gatherings are kept to 15 people or less, and should not include the sharing of common equipment unless the individuals are from the same household.”

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Unfortunately with this latest announcement Northeast Zone Baseball has no choice but to follow the guideline of our governing body and the guidelines of Alberta Health and the Province of Alberta.  We are now declaring the 2020 regular baseball season cancelled.  All participants who have paid a registration fee will be entitled to a full refund.

What we propose is that we do not actually refund your money but rather hold it as a credit for Fall Ball, Camps & Clinics or to use towards next years registration fee.  If we hold your funds and registration fees for next season increase we would accept your childs’ registration at this years registration rate.

Many of you paid online and the cost to Northeast Zone for Point of Sale fees is substantial.  If we refund online that cost to NEZ doubles so we have already decided to refund by cheque rather that POS.   If you prefer to have a refund now, please send an email to nezsports@telus.net.  Include your childs’ name and the name you would like the cheque made out to.  Please also include your mailing address.

If you opt to allow us to hold your funds and your child does not play next season with NEZ, you will still be entitled to a full refund.

Now for some more hopeful information…..

NEZ Baseball together with Technical Director John Sutherland and Performance Director Patrick Spzak are working on Alternative Summer Programming like the Padres Virtual Summer Performance Program.  Information on summer programing will be sent out as soon as plans are finalized.  Hopefully some “Sand Lot” style play will be possible as Baseball Alberta works with the provincial health authorities on a “Return to Train” proposal.  And we are planning to play Fall Ball and to host our regular Fall & High Performance Programs and Community Winter Camps as part of the “Return to Play” approval expected on or after September 1.

And remember the situation is very fluid.  Stay tuned, stay safe and have a great summer.