In a landmark decision, the United States Quad Rugby Association has cancelled their National Championship tournament, reflective of the pandemonium sweeping both the nation and world due to the Coronavirus, or Covid-19. This is the first known cancellation of a national level event for the organization in its over 30-year history, highlighting the significance of the move.
Given the rapid cancellations of sporting events such as the NCAA Conference championships, NHL games, NBA games, and Tennis events, this should come as no surprise. But the difference to be highlighted, is those organizations mentioned previously cancelled primarily due to the dense population of fans at the events (and more recently the two Utah Jazz players who contracted the illness). The USQRA tournaments do not draw in a large crowd, so maybe there’s something further? Let’s dig into this a bit.
Just 3 days ago, the USQRA President released a letter to the membership that stated that the tournament was still occurring, stating “It is our opinion that at this time Nationals should progress as scheduled.” The letter did go on to encourage those that might have symptoms to not attend, that’s good, but if you made it to the end of the letter of reassurance, they leave the door wide open, saying “We will continue to monitor reports and reserve the right to take any actions necessary to protect the USQRA community.” There can be speculation here that perhaps the event was already cancelled, and they may have been easing the blow.
Only 2 days after this letter, the USQRA posted to their social media accounts saying the “USQRA Board of Directors has seen the escalation of concern across the country about the situation surrounding COVID-19” and to “look for updates tomorrow.” Well that tomorrow came today, and they decided the tournament wasn’t worth the risk. There have been many conversations between those within the league about nationals, and speculation about what may happen. There has been a distinct concern that the very athletes in the sport may be more susceptible to the more severe aspects of Covid-19, which may have weighed heavily on the Board’s decision.
Be it a responsible choice, saving face, protecting the athletes, avoiding liability, or jumping on the hysteria bandwagon, the result is the same: The USQRA will not have a championship tournament this year.
There are some questions that haven’t been answered, like how will the rankings work for next season, and what happens with the Annual General Meeting (AGM)?
We want to know how you feel. Are you happy the USQRA is doing the right thing? D you think they’re giving into media pressure? Do you think the reaction is over-hyped? Are you angry about this? Comment below, head over to our forum, or yell at us on our Twitter or Facebook and tell the Bent Axle where this leaves you and your team as we close out what has proven to be a weird and lackluster season.
See the full USQRA announcement HERE.
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