GOFL 2020 season cancelled

Despite the province moving to Stage 3 of the pandemic, the Greater Ottawa Fastball League will not be operating in 2020.

Team representatives met last week and decided not to proceed with a regular schedule.

Some teams will attempt to play some exhibition games this summer.

We plan to be back for 2021.

Glen Cairn Men's Fastball League to start up for 2020

from Eric Colvin
On behalf of the 2020 GCMFL Executive

The Glen Cairn Men's Fastball League will be playing ball for the 2020 season the league executive announced last week. With the mandated city and provincial guidelines of a "Bubble" league with a maximum of 50 players, including umpires, the executive needed to get creative to adhere to this criteria. With 5 full team rosters wanting to return, the executive selected a random draw to pull (4) teams of (12) players each to meet the maximum of the 50 person bubble. While it will look a little different on the diamond, the executive is ecstatic to at least have some Fastball played in Glen Cairn in the summer of 2020.

Tom Flood, one of the founders of the GCMFL, informed the executive in March that this would be the 50th year of operations if and when we start the season. The league plans to have Mr. Flood join us on opening night to throw out the ceremonial first pitch on the 50th season of the GCMFL.
The plan is to start the season on Tuesday, August 4th. Games will take place every Tuesday at 6:30pm & 8:30pm and run for a total of 6 regular season games per team ending on September 8th. Following the regular season, the teams will be ranked #1 through #4 and play a best of 1 series in the semi-finals and finals.

The safety of our members is the GCMFL's top priority. With consultation from the umpire in chief, league members and, City of Ottawa officials, the Executive has plans in place to adhere to the social distancing requirements set out by the City of Ottawa and the Provincial Government.

Gil Read Memorial tournament cancelled for 2020

While the provincial announcement today opens things up somewhat, unfortunately the 13th Annual Gil Read Memorial Men's Fastball Tournament will be cancelled for 2020.

The event was scheduled for the July 24-26 in Fitzroy Harbour and there was a great list of committed teams back in February. However, it's not feasible or safe to host an event the size of The Gil given provincial restrictions on game play and gathering limits.

The organizers look forward to continuing the Gil Read tourney tradition in 2021.

Eastern Ontario enters Stage 3

The provincial government has announced that eastern Ontario has moved into "Stage 3" of  COVID recovery, starting Friday July 17.

Quoting GOFL legal counsel Erin Durant's LinkedIn page:

Amateur and recreational sports leagues may resume so long as they do not allow for prolonged and deliberate physical contact between players or if they have established modifications. However, significantly, leagues must contain no more than 50 participants in total. If participants in a league exceed 50, the league may divide into small groups of no more than 50 people. Players are not yet permitted to play against players outside of their league or group. This regime is essentially establishing mini-sports circles in which games can be played. These rules will prevent large cross-province competitions among large numbers of competing teams and will limit competition for team sports to small group league play only.

Overall outdoor gathering limits - which include players, officials, coaches, spectators at any one venue - are now 100 people.

How local men's leagues, as well as minor leagues, will move forward with these new regulation is yet to be determined.