The Arena Lacrosse League has announced that the opening weekend of the ALL East Division scheduled for December 18-19, 2021, has been postponed until Sunday January 2, 2022, due to the recent increase of COVID-19 cases in Ontario.
“It’s unfortunate timing for the ALL East that the Omicron variant is spreading as quickly if not faster than any of the other Covid variants we have seen to date,” stated ALL President Paul St. John. “We had plans to get the games in and then shut down for the two week Holiday break but over the last 48 hours we have seen a tremendous rise in the number of cases in Ontario and worldwide that has increased our concern that we would be putting our athletes, officials, volunteers and fans at risk. As we said from the first time Covid shut us down, the health and safety of everyone associated with the ALL is our top priority.”
The Arena Lacrosse League will continue to monitor COVID case numbers in British Columbia, (Langley) location of the ALL West Division, with two games at the Langley Event Center expected to take place as scheduled. A full staff will be in place to assist with ensuring masks and social distancing are enforced as well as verification of proof of vaccination.
“At this point we are very fortunate the decision to shut down the opening weekend of the East Division will not affect the games planned in the West.” St. John added. “Once they have completed this weekend, they will be on a two week Holiday break.”
The Arena Lacrosse League would like to apologize for any inconvenience this decision may have caused. Unfortunately due to the current situation with COVID-19 and its variants caution and safety becomes the top priority.
