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WLA to delay start of 2020 season

League has mapped out some options for a later launch, in coordination with the Ontario league, in hopes of holding the Mann Cup in September
Burnaby Lakers
The Burnaby Lakers' start to the Western Lacrosse Association 2020 season won't be happening on May 23 as scheduled, after the league announced it is delaying the launch of the season in wake of the COVID-19 epidemic.

With an eye on protecting Mann Cup options, the Western Lacrosse Association announced Tuesday that it has officially delayed the start of the 2020 indoor lacrosse season.

Scheduled to begin May 21, with New Westminster hosting Maple Ridge, while the Burnaby Lakers were to visit Victoria on May 22, the start date is now in limbo due to the COVID-19 health pandemic.

League governors decided to postpone the start, and officials with both the WLA and Major Series Lacrosse of Ontario are working together with an aim of having a Mann Cup championship series between the two leagues in September, hosted by Ontario.

“Our intention is to play a full season but we have alternately drafted a few proposals that give us options should the situation not permit (a regular length schedule),” WLA commissioner Paul Dal Monte said in an interview with the NOW on Tuesday. “We have drafted two alternative schedules, with playoff options, and aligned in lock-step with the MSL.”

When they receive the all-clear from health officials to open shuttered community facilities and permit large public gatherings, municipal schedulers will be inundated with requests for floor time from the minor sports and recreation sports user groups, as well. That would also require some coordinating on a local standpoint, Dal Monte said.

The WLA governors are slated to meet again on April 11 to review their options. Dal Monte said the focus is on preparing for a possible spring startup that could facilitate a condensed schedule and playoffs and a   September Mann Cup tournament.

Burnaby Lakers general manager Kevin Hill said as much as everyone is itching to get going, public safety trumps all.

“It’s a tough decision, but as much as everyone wants to get a season going, there are far more important things than lacrosse at stake,” said Hill. “We have to think about our players, our fans, and our support staff.”

The WLA regular season usually sees teams play each other three times over an 18-game schedule, for a total of 63 games. If the league reduced its schedule to a home-and-home series between each team, it would result in a 12-game schedule per team, for 42 league games.

“The end goal is to have a Mann Cup, and what form the season and playoffs take is part of the contingency plan,” added Hill.

With Ontario slated to host the Mann Cup championship and a number of the competitive teams there share an arena with an Ontario Hockey League club, postponing the national series would be a challenge.

“In arenas where a number of Ontario teams play junior hockey takes precedent, like in Peterborough,” noted Dal Monte. “But the Mann Cup is the Mann Cup, so we’ll have to see.”

The Ontario league has not announced a change in schedule as of Tuesday, but released a statement that extends the ban on all in-person lacrosse activities to May 15, pending further provincial directives.

The WLA schedule was originally slated to go until July 31, with league playoffs going on during August.