Labrador Cup soccer tournament cancelled for 1st time in 37 years

For the first time in 37 years, there won't be a Labrador Cup champion this year.

The event is one of the biggest in Labrador: an annual week-long indoor soccer tournament, bringing hundreds of athletes, coaches, and fans from across the region into central Labrador.

But as public health measures continue to put a halt to sports events and mass gatherings across the province, organizers of the annual indoor soccer tournament were forced to make the call.

"It's sad. It's heavy. It's a heavy feeling," said Jodi Brown, who played on the first-ever Happy Valley-Goose Bay women's team in 1999-2000, and had been gearing up with her team this year to make a run at the championship.

"The tournament means so much to our team. We've been together for, I'm going to say 10 years, most of us," Brown said.

"We look forward to it every year, not only getting out on the turf and playing, but watching the other teams, interacting with the other teams, the refs, the fans, the coaches."

Could see cancellation coming

Brown said she could see the cancellation coming at the beginning of April, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full force in Newfoundland and Labrador.

But being prepared for the news didn't make it any easier.

"It's a big part of our week, this time of year, every year," she said. "Everything revolves around spending time at the arena, spending time with your team. Some people are taking it pretty hard. But, as I've said, most of us are adults and there's absolutely nothing we can do about it."

Organizers of the annual indoor soccer tournament confirmed the cancellation in late April.

Still, with the event always being held on the first Wednesday in June, players, volunteers, families and friends are reliving old memories on the tournament's Facebook page.

Staying connected

Organizers have been trying to capture some of the magic, with volunteers, families and friends reliving old memories online.

They couldn't let the week go by without getting people involved in some kind of tournament, so they're using the Labrador Cup Facebook page to keep players and fans involved while planning what next year's tournament will look like.

Trivia and soccer skills challenges are open to the public, not just the athletes, and people can compete with posts showing off their moves.

"The skills competition, I guess that will be my baby for the week. I'm just looking for some videos, or maybe a good photo shot of somebody presenting their skills in some way," Janine Battcock, who co-chairs the event with Carlos Spearing, told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

"I'd like to see things like how many headers they can do in the air. I haven't put it out there what they'll be doing yet, but it will just be popped up daily what I'm looking for."

Outside of those virtual competitions, players and volunteers of tournaments past have been sharing memories and stories. Many have dug deep into their personal archives and uncovered gems, such as newspaper clippings, for others to relive.

As for moving the tournament to a later date like the end of the summer or early fall, both Battcock and Spearing believe it's best to wait until next year to do it properly.

"The previous organizing committee have had this tournament at such a high level, and a high standard, that we didn't want to do it like at the end of summer or at another time in the summer just for the sake of having the Lab Cup this year," Spearing said.

"We want to do it so that it's at a high level. Unfortunately we had to cancel this year but ... we're going to come back bigger and stronger next year, hopefully."

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