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ECRHA

Eastern Collegiate Roller Hockey Association

NCRHA Postpones April National Championship Event

Looking opportunity to reschedule in late May or early June

 March 22nd, 2021 at 9:24PM  March 23rd, 2021 2:26AM

The National Collegiate Roller Hockey Association has announced that it is postponing the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships, originally scheduled to be held in Fort Myers, FL, April 14-18, 2021. The postponement is due to the large number of member clubs that would not be able to participate in the Championships as scheduled due to the Covid related restrictions currently in place by each individual college or university on their club.

There is currently an attempt to reschedule the National Collegiate Roller Hockey Championships for Memorial Day Weekend (the last weekend in May), or for one of the first two weekends in June, as well as to relocate the event to a more central location. Further details including the new dates and location will be released as soon as possible.

Following extensive discussions with and surveys of the Club Sports Directors at member schools, the NCRHA determined that the postponement was the best course of action, designed to maximize the possibility of student participation in a 2021 National Championship event by delaying the event until after the end of the traditional semester for most schools. As of mid-March 2021, only a handful of NCRHA clubs would have the ability to participate in the National Championships as scheduled.

However, according to NCRHA Director of League Operations Rob Coggin, there was some tempered enthusiasm that a delay until after then of the traditional spring semester in mid-May might enable more schools to participate.

“The picture that came out of the latest direct conversations with the schools’ Club Sports Directors is that a decent number of schools might be willing to give a green light to their club’s participation in a national event if it were held after the end of the school year. They appreciated the thought process that after final exams, teams would be able to compete without having to leave campus and return, thus limiting the opportunity to contract and bring the virus back to campus,” stated Coggin. “It is hoped that the shifting dynamics we are seeing with falling infection rates and increasing vaccination numbers will work in our favor and make the colleges and universities making these decisions to allow their teams to play.”

While the new location of the 2021 event is undecided, there are as many as a half dozen locations being considered. Locations for 2022 and beyond are also undecided, although it is expected that the National Championships will return to Fort Myers at some point.

“Lee County Sports, the City of Fort Myers, and the Fort Myers Skatium have been excellent partners through the years,” continued Coggin. “They have provided a first class competition environment in a part of the country that our programs have thoroughly enjoyed through the years, and while we share their disappointment that the pandemic has so significantly affected the 2020 and 2021 events, we appreciate their continued commitment to the NCRHA and look forward to returning to Southwest Florida as soon as it makes sense for everyone involved.”

NCHRA clubs should expect updated information to be pushed out to them as soon as possible.

 

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