The snowfall that hit the Cowichan Valley late last week wreaked havoc on sporting events scheduled for outdoors and indoors.
Nearly all outdoor events across Vancouver Island were cancelled due to the weather, and several indoor competitions had to be rescheduled as well.
None of the Cowichan Valley’s soccer teams got into action due to frozen pitches, and the same fate befell field lacrosse. The games for Cowichan’s senior men’s and women’s teams were scheduled to be their last contests of 2016, and it seems unlikely now that any of them will get into action before the New Year.
The U18 Mid Island Thunder field lacrosse team was scheduled to play two games in Nanaimo last weekend, but they were cancelled, along with all but one of the team’s games for the remainder of the year.
The Cowichan Valley Wrestling Club was set to host its annual Cougar Invitational meet at Chemainus Secondary School on Saturday, but the school district made the call to cancel it as well. The meet has been rescheduled to Jan. 14.
Two basketball tournaments also fell victim to the snow.
The Cowichan Secondary School Thunderbirds managed to play the first day of their three-day tournament last Thursday before having to cancel the next two days of play.
Duncan Christian School was prepared to host a senior girls tournament on Friday and Saturday, with participation from several other area schools, but it had to be cancelled as well. No dates have been set to make up the missed games.
Not involving a Cowichan team, but of interest to many sports fans in the area, the Island senior men’s rugby championship between the Nanaimo Hornets and Port Alberni Black Sheep, which was scheduled to take place in Nanaimo on Saturday, was postponed even though Nanaimo players shovelled the field clean on Friday. That game is expected to be made up this coming weekend.