Before the Arizona Wildcats club hockey team could play its first game, the UA announced on Friday its plans to cancel the spring season for COVID-19 concerns.
The UA, formerly known as the "Ice Cats," will return to the Tucson Convention Center in the fall for the 2021-22 season.
“COVID really impacted club sports in general all throughout the country, not just here in Tucson,” said Troy Vaughn, director of Campus Recreation at the UA, in a press release.
The UA stated the major factors in shutting down the season was a combination of "administrative protocols about Covid testing, qualifying difficulties and the cancellation of several seasons from (West Coast Hockey League) teams," which would've made it challenging to navigate through.
“It just became too difficult to make it work with struggles to secure opposing teams, travel expenses, and the mandated testing," said Vaughn. "I am so proud of Coach (Chad) Berman, coordinator Tanner Harris and the members of the team who have worked tirelessly to try and make this happen. In the end, we just ran out of time.”
Berman is expected to return for his seventh season as Arizona's head coach. Since 2016, Berman has coached the UA to four consecutive winning seasons.
