Orillia Ball Hockey Club is ready to host the match next week

The Orillia Ball Hockey Club season kicks off next week as part of Phase 2 of the province’s reopening plan.

“In our view, sports can continue as long as they have no contact, and ball hockey is a technically untouched sport,” said club manager Adam Woolfrey.

“There are occasional contacts sometimes, but it doesn’t go on in any way.”

The adult leagues start on Monday and the youth leagues start on July 12th.

Woolfrey said the COVID-19 restrictions do not call into question the integrity of the game.

“We run our regular hockey leagues (but will be) to strengthen the connection a little heavier for safety reasons,” he said.

“We will continue to comply with all health regulations and hope to have a slightly shorter period.”

The summer hockey season consists of 10 matches and playoffs, which is a little less than the regular 12-match regular season.

“We had to shorten the summer season because we start late, but we’re still so excited to get back there, and the players, parents and even our officials can’t wait to get ahead.”

Typically, the ball disc registration number is lower than other summer seasons due to other summer sports and activities. However, this year’s registration numbers will continue to rise.

“Given that everyone has been kept inside for a while, we hope we have a high turnout this summer, and I’m sure we will,” Woolfrey said.

The club is now being challenged by starting the season with just two weeks ’notice.

“We’ve been working behind the scenes for the last two weeks on field teams as we waited for this start, so we’ve been working to build schedules, get officials lined up and get the teams to the door,” Woolfrey explained.

“We wanted to make sure everyone had a kind of moving start to gaming, but still get ahead as fast as we could.”

Field rentals are still available at OBHC, and registration for next week’s season is still open. Click for more information here.