Due to numerous hurdles that seem unsurmountable, the 2020 softball season has been cancelled. There were several factors that led to this extremely hard decision by the commissioner.
1) Most of the communities rely on their school fields to have games and still today, those are staying closed until June 30th.
2) It is impossible to find insurance for any teams that cover for the circumstances that we are currently going through. I have personally contacted several companies to see if they have written in riders to cover the current circumstances and I have yet to find one. Until there is a way to curb the legal side of this, insurance companies are not willing to allow for a rider covering infectious disease. Below is the actual response from OUR current insurance company regarding this.
“This insurance does not apply to any loss, claim or “suit” caused or alleged to have been caused by a communicable disease.
Communicable disease, as used in this endorsement, shall mean any infectious disease, including but not limited to, diseases transmitted by bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoa, a combination of the foregoing, or unknown causes.” -disclaimer by our insurance company.
3) The final aspect comes right down to safety. As much as we all want to see our children playing sports again, we cannot ensure the safety of our children 100%. Unfortunately, this isn’t just hoping they don’t get hurt, it is something that could affect a whole team and indirectly all of their families in the process, as well as transmitting to other communities. The chain reaction is something that is real, dangerous and quite frankly not worth the risk involved.
Hope is always there that a vaccine comes sooner than later, then we can all get back to our normal lives and re-awaken the love of sports many of us enjoy.
Refunds will be available immediately for summer and any spring fees that were being applied to summer.
Stay safe,
Tim Layne, Kristi Smith, Bill Brugnone
Diamonds and Fairways
