University Hockey Teams in BC are preparing for the annual Captains Cup, which returns again starting this Friday after being cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The tournament, which is the first big competition these teams see each year, typically includes The University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University and Trinity Western University’s Varsity hockey teams. However, this year the tournament will be expanded, and will also see the University of Victoria and Vancouver Island University’s hockey teams compete alongside the usual suspects for their shot at the cup title.

This will be fourth Captains Cup since it began in 2017. Aside from bringing together the university hockey teams in the lower mainland (and now the island), the cup also acts as a way to raise awareness for the varsity hockey teams and the WHL’s Scholarship program, which is a bursary available to university students who intend to play varsity hockey. The cup is sponsored by the WHL and the Vancouver Giants, who present the scholarship every year.

🏒 MHKY | The Captain's Cup Tournament is back for 2021, kicking off Friday night as @UBCMHKY hosts @sfu_athletics!

📸 @BobFridImages

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— UBC Thunderbirds (@ubctbirds) September 13, 2021

Due to the additional teams included in the cup this year, the tournament will last eleven games and carry out from Friday Sept. 17 all the way until the championship game which will take place on Saturday, Oct. 9. The games are scheduled to take place mostly between the University of Victoria and the University of British Columbia, with other select games taking place at both Simon Fraser University and Vancouver Island University.

The regular varsity hockey season is set to being the week after the cup, with UBC and TWU playing their first official game on Oct. 15. For more information about times, schedules, and game locations you can visit the schedules on the team pages for UBC, TWU, SFU, UVIC and VIU.

Team Canada 1 took the top prize this Sunday in the BMO Nations’ Cup annual Show-Jumping competition.

For the uninitiated, show jumping is an equestrian event that involves riding one’s horse around an often-colorful course and jumping over a series of obstacles within a certain amount of time.

This year’s cup, hosted in Spruce Meadows, Alta., saw five international show-jumping teams compete for the Nations’ Cup title. Team Canada 1 and 2 both competed in the Cup, with team 1 placing first and team 2 placing third overall. The other teams they competed against were Ireland, USA, and Mexico. This marks the third time in history that Canada has won the Nations’ Cup title, as well as the first time they have in seven years.

photo – pixabay/romavor

At the Cup, every member of each team must ride through to clear a 12-obstacle circuit twice, from which a combined score is calculated after. The sport of show-jumping is scored through the number of ‘faults’ incurred, which are given to a team when a horse knocks down one or more jumping poles, or in some cases, refuses to make the jump altogether.

By the end of the cup, Team Canada 1 sat in first place with only eight faults over the two rounds. Team Canada 2 finished with 16 faults, while USA, Mexico and Ireland finished with 15, 32 and 44 faults respectively.

There was a hunger for victory this time around, as the team missed out in competing at this year’s delayed 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. However, due to the recency of the Olympics, a small number of teams wound up competing at the Nations’ Cup this year, giving Team Canada an opportunity to show the crowd that they came to win.

With vaccine card rollouts happening this month in BC, and in provinces across the country, sports fans will now have to show proof of vaccination at most events starting this month. Here’s a look at what that means for fans this season:

With the hockey season beginning in October, Canucks Sports & Entertainment have confirmed that they will require fans to be fully vaccinated with two doses before they are given admission to Rogers Arena for home games as well as any other events at the stadium.

As well, the BC Lions have stated that as of Monday, Sept. 13, proof of at least a first COVID-19 vaccine dose will be needed for fans to get into BC Place. The first home game following this mandate is scheduled for Sept. 24, where the Lions will face off against the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

Image – pixabay/jaspion82

Elsewhere in Canada, the CFL has had to make a shift on COVID-19 policy since their season began last month. While some teams in the league took a firm stance on vaccine proof being needed at the outset of the season, others – such as the Saskatchewan Roughriders & the Edmonton Elks – didn’t state whether they would require the jab to get into games until late last month. Every CFL team has now made a statement requiring vaccinations at home games.

The Blue Jays game this Monday against Tampa Bay also marks their first home game this season where fans will need to show immunization proof. According to the Blue Jays’ Health and Safety, getting into the ball game will take either a “Receipt of full COVID-19 vaccination” within 14 days of the game, or a negative test within 48 hours. This comes more than a week before Ontario’s vaccine receipts will be required starting Sept. 22 in a similar manner to the ones in BC.