‘I was devastated’: University athletes miss out on final year of eligibility

Most graduated university athletes look back on their final season of competition fondly, but this year’s group didn’t even get a chance to suit up for one last time.

The entirety of the 2020-21 U Sports season was cancelled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

“I was devastated. Throughout the whole summer, I was trying to be optimistic and positive and really think that we were going to have a season but in the back of my mind, the realistic side of my brain was like, ‘Do we actually think we’re going to have a season?’ And as the numbers kept going up and up, it was harder to believe,” said Morgan Baker, a goaltender for the University of Regina women’s hockey team.

“I truly understand the quote, ‘Play every game like it’s your last’ and I think back now and I don’t even know the last game I had played in just because I had such high expectations for how this season was going to go and how I was going to be able to finish my career. Thinking about how I won’t have those opportunities to do that is extremely disappointing and extremely sad.”

And for many, that means they were robbed of one of the most treasured moments of their careers. The fifth-year game is usually a moment filled with the cheers of family and friends, an opportunity to look back on a career well done and tears shed with friends knowing it’s the last time you’ll suit up alongside them.

Baker said she remembers being a rookie on the team and seeing the graduating players get honoured.

“It was such an exciting time for the fifth-years because it was a time where we remember their efforts and what they gave to our team and organization for five years,” Baker said. “It was always bittersweet … I remember being in my first year and thinking, ‘Wow, five years is a long time, I have so long to get to this point,’ then here I am, blink of an eye and I’m already graduating.”

So athletes had to come to grips with the fact they weren’t getting that moment this year.

(Photo submitted by Kaitlyn Crowe)

“Other fifth-years that have graduated, when they post about their fifth-year game, it makes it real to me I won’t ever get that experience and I might not feel like I had that closure that they got when they got done their career,” said Kaitlyn Crowe, who plays defence on the hockey team and was named a captain for this year.

“It’s challenging to think about it that way but our coach has done a lot and the younger girls have done a lot for us fifth-years to make sure that we still feel that closure and recognition that we put in a solid effort for our fifth year.”

Crowe said she didn’t realize how difficult it was to actually make it to a fifth season when she was a rookie.

“The significance of getting that fifth year and getting that picture on the wall is important, especially to myself,” Crowe said.

While U Sports is allowing players to have an extra year of eligibility, both Crowe and Baker have decided to pursue postgraduate degrees outside of Saskatchewan rather than continue to take classes that wouldn’t go towards their plan of study.

Baker said rather than a year of celebration, it feels like a year of lost memories.

“(The thing) I miss the most is time with the girls. Even when we were practising in first semester, there was no time to show up early to the rink and bond with your teammates,” Baker said. “That’s my number one (disappointment), all the time spent with my teammates that I didn’t get.

“From an on-ice perspective, I truly miss competing. I miss the adrenaline rush from competing.”

Baker said the team held a Zoom call to say their goodbyes and the U of R created social media posts to honour them.

“Normally there’s a fifth-year game where our parents are there and alumni there and they present us with our jersey and our picture and we have teammates that present it to us and it’s an awesome game to be a part of,” Baker said.

“Unfortunately we can’t gather and are unable to do that at this time.”