The 43rd annual Kilrich Yukon Native Hockey Tournament scheduled to take place at the end of the month has been cancelled over concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The announcement was made early today.

This is the first time in the event’s 43-year history that it’s been cancelled.

Following a consultation with Dr. Catherine Elliott, the Yukon’s deputy Chief Medical Officer of Health, the board of directors of the Yukon First Nations Hockey Association made the decision to call off the 2020 tournament.

Michelle Dawson-Beattie, the president of the Yukon First Nations Hockey Association, said in an interview this morning it was a difficult decision.

“It’s difficult in the sense that we feel we are letting the fans and the players down,” said Dawson-Beattie. “It was an easy decision in the sense of the health and safety of everyone.”

Dawson-Beattie said talks surrounding cancelling the tournament began after the 2020 Arctic Winter Games announced their cancellation last Saturday.

“Going forward, we were looking at how would it look?” said Dawson-Beattie. “God forbid, someone got COVID-19 from the tournament.

“The possibility of infection of any of our tournament goers and the subsequent threat that would pose to their families and home communities was not a risk our board was willing to take.”

She said the board of directors looked at many factors in its decision to cancel the tournament.

“We thought, ‘do we get rid of the youth division?’” said Dawson-Beattie.

“That’s the division that brings the most families, parents, grandparents and friends, but we care about all our divisions.

“We thought about installing hand washing stations. After every game, handshaking is mandatory; that would have had to change. There are so many factors, and we determined the risk was too great.

“What will it look like next week? It’s changing hour-by-hour. There were too many unknowns and too many health and financial risks.”

The Yukon First Nations Hockey Association is a not-for-profit organization. Dawson-Beattie said there was no plan to play without fans because they rely on admission sales.

There were 44 teams registered to play in the 43rd tournament.

Dawson-Beattie said they mostly come from northern communities but some teams do bring up players from across the country where there are confirmed cases of COVID-19.

The teams were informed of the cancellation before it was made public today.

“We sent out the release before and we will be refunding all the teams,” said Dawson-Beattie. “We hope people are patient.”

The entrance fee could not be carried over to next year because it’s done on a first-come, first-served basis, she said.

“We really appreciate the kind words,” said Dawson-Beattie. “It’s been a hard day; I’ve already cried a little. I hope everyone understands. We care about all of you.”

As of noon today, there were no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the territory.