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Revised - The Kilrich Yukon Native Hockey Tournament has been cancelled for the third straight year.

The event had been scheduled to take place March 25-27 at the Takhini Arena and the Canada Games Centre.

Registration normally opens Feb. 1. 43 teams were registered for the 2020 tournament. Teams registered for that tourney would have been given right of first refusal to re-register for the 2022 tournament.

According to Michelle Dawson-Beattie, the Yukon First Nations Hockey Association president, the decision to cancel the tourney was made about a week prior to a press release announcing the decision on Dec. 27.

鈥淲e sat down and talked about it as a board,鈥� she said Tuesday.

鈥淚 had some discussions with the acting chief medical officer鈥檚 office. I was hoping to talk to Yukon Government about any sort of relief funding, but with Omicron how it was just a couple weeks ago, and there being so much uncertainly ... it was the best decision we could make, trying to keep everybody in our communities safe.鈥�

鈥淚t was a board decision. We didn鈥檛 discuss it with CYFN, just knowing a lot of the different First Nation governments ... where they stand with COVID, keeping their community safe, we just made the decision ourselves.鈥�

Dawson-Beattie said costs were a big factor in the board鈥檚 decision.

鈥淚f there was no financial relief, like if we started spending money and paying for things, and booking stuff, if we weren鈥檛 able to get reimbursed, we would essentially probably go bankrupt.鈥�

Ice fees alone are $40,000 for the weekend.

鈥淎 lot of our fundraising has been impacted,鈥� Dawson-Beattie said.

鈥淲e normally have three bingos a year ... all of the proceeds from the bingos go to our ice fees.鈥�

The recent restrictions on gathering sizes also had an impact.

鈥淲ith the current restrictions on gathering sizes, we wouldn鈥檛 be able to host it with teams, like, no spectators ... there鈥檚 a huge financial cost if we were to host it. If we had to do rapid tests for everyone that comes in and out of the rinks, that鈥檚 very costly.

鈥淲e鈥檙e a not-for-profit association and a volunteer board, and we just don鈥檛 have those type of funds available,鈥� added Dawson-Beattie.

鈥淲hen we had to cancel it the first time, we had to cancel it like at the eleventh hour 鈥� I think it was a week or two weeks before the actual tournament. We were able to recoup some of those costs.鈥�

An economic impact study done a few years ago by the board of directors showed the impact for the Yukon to be approximately $1.7 million, and $1.2 million for Whitehorse.

鈥淭hat didn鈥檛 take into account vehicles bought, Skidoos bought, four-wheelers, those type of things. There鈥檚 no way to track that,鈥� added Dawson-Beattie.

When asked if there any circumstances under which it would be reinstated, Dawson-Beattie replied 鈥渋t鈥檚 a done deal for the spring. The ice goes out in March. Our tournament is usually the last event at the rinks.鈥�

Not surprisingly, there has been a reaction to the news of the cancellation.

鈥淲e got a lot of people saying 鈥榳hy don鈥檛 you make it only Yukon teams and only Yukon players?鈥欌�� stated Dawson-Beattie. 鈥淲ell you still have a high number of people coming in to gather, to play hockey, and it wouldn鈥檛 be the same Yukon Native Hockey Tournament. It would be a different variation from what we normally host ... there鈥檚 no way we can ensure that we can keep the communities who don鈥檛 have the health care capacities that even Whitehorse has safe. Elders are our main concern. We just didn鈥檛 want to overwhelm any health care system in any Yukon community or remote community.鈥�

She said it鈥檚 frustrating to have to cancel the big event for the third year in a row.

鈥淚t was a very hard decision to make. A month ago, it looked like it would be completely possible, but given that since Dec. 31, 鈥榯il 鈥� I think it was yesterday 鈥� there was 158 new COVID cases. There鈥檚 just so much uncertainty.

鈥淲ho knows what it might be like in March? Maybe things will be different. Maybe we could have been able to have it, but the financial impact it would have had on a small association like ours would be significant ... it was a tough decision to make,鈥� she said.

鈥淲e were all pretty sad, because a month ago it looked like everything would have been possible.

鈥淲e needed to make the decision sooner rather than later,鈥� Dawson-Beattie added.

鈥淭o plan a tournament of this size and this calibre, it takes a few months. We normally start planning early December, and so we were already in the middle of December.

鈥淎 decision had to be made, and with all the uncertainly of everything that鈥檚 going on in the world, it just did not seem responsible for us to move forward with it.鈥�

As for the possibility of holding the event next year, 鈥渇inger鈥檚 crossed ... that we鈥檒l definitely be able to have it,鈥� said Dawson-Beattie.

鈥淎nd we are looking at hosting our hockey camp in July, which has also been canceled for the last two years. It鈥檚 a lot smaller, there鈥檚 no spectators, we鈥檒l have to do things a little bit differently than we normally do, but, it should be manageable for sure.鈥�

The hockey camp is the Northwestel and Yukon First Nation鈥檚 Hockey Association鈥檚 Learning to Lead Hockey Camp.

鈥淲e鈥檒l typically bring up a motivational speaker, but we鈥檒l also bring up an Indigenous hockey player who鈥檚 either in the NHL or somewhere of that caliber.鈥�

Past players attending include Michael Ferland of the Vancouver Canucks and Troy Stecher of the Detroit Red Wings, and former NHL鈥檈r Jordan Tootoo.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been really well-attended and we have tons of kids from the age of 5-17,鈥� said Dawson-Beattie.

鈥淲e know everybody misses having the hockey tournament,鈥� added Dawson-Beattie. 鈥淲e miss it too. We miss seeing everybody, but we just wanted to safeguard the health and well-being of the communities here in the Yukon and 鈥� just the uncertainty with the pandemic, it just wasn鈥檛 responsible of us to move forward with it and hopefully in 2023 we can see everybody again and this whole pandemic will be behind us.鈥�