Latest Governor COVID-19 restrictions ends Wenatchee Wild’s 2020-2021 season
With the latest restrictions on gyms and ice arenas in the state of Washington it has made it impossible for the Wenatchee Wild to continue with the 2020-2021 season. The United States and Canadian border remain closed until at least December 21st, 2020. The latest setback is not being able to train our players here in the state of Washington. We are not opting out of the season we are being forced out because the United States and Canadian border are closed and the restrictions on gyms and ice arenas in the state of Washington. “We are very saddened by events that are out of our control and have forced us to not have a 2020-21 season for our BCHL Wenatchee Wild. We will continue to develop players on our four other development teams, and I will keep all Wild staff on board, as this is a temporary setback for the BCHL Wild. We will be back with the Wild for the 2021-2022 season and we appreciate all of our supporter’s patience and understanding.” said David White, Owner Wenatchee Wild.
With hockey being played in other states and other leagues around the country our players need to be able to continue their development as they are competing for college scholarships. This is a very tough day for us as an organization as we pride ourselves on being a players first organization. Our coaches first off will be working to make sure all our current players have a place to play for the remainder of the 2020-2021 season. After that they will shift into building the Wenatchee Wild 2021-2022 team. “Obviously like everyone else, our staff, is disappointed that we are forced to end the 20-21 season. We want to thank our players for all their hard work over the last 7 weeks. We were looking forward to seeing this group of players grow throughout the season. We also want to thank our incredible billet families for opening their homes during these unprecedented times. We can’t wait for the 2021-2022 season and look forward to seeing everyone then.” said Wild Head Coach Chris Clark
As an organization we would like to restate our gratitude for all our players that have been with us the past seven weeks and wish everyone continued success this year. We would like to thank all of housing families that have taken players into their houses during these tough times.
To all our season ticket holders and corporate sponsors, we want to say thank you for the continued support. We will be contacting all of you soon to see how you would like to handle your accounts. You will be given a choice of a 100% refund or the option of rolling your season tickets or corporate sponsorship agreements into the 2021-2022 season. We will start our renewal process for season tickets and corporate sponsors the middle of January 2021 for the upcoming 2021-2022 season. We appreciate your patience as we begin this process of an untraveled territory for our staff.
We feel bad for not only our players and fans but also all the service clubs, charitable organizations, youth teams that use the Wenatchee Wild as a vehicle to raise money for their organizations. The Wild generally help with about $100,000 per year to these organizations through chuck-a-puck, 50/50, ticket fundraisers, jersey auctions & more. We have been shown that the Wenatchee Wild have about a five-million-dollar economic impact in Wenatchee and we look forward to continuing our local impact moving forward.
“This is a sad day for the Wenatchee Wild organization. We feel for our players, housing families, fans, season ticket holders, corporate sponsors, and the Town Toyota Center. Not a good day for any of us. This will hurt for a while for sure, but I know we will get through this and we will be back better than ever for the 2021-2022 season. I will challenge the hockey operations staff building next year’s team to recruit harder and smarter than ever. We will challenge our front office to upgrade everything we do. We are proud of the show we put on right now but want make it the most entertaining event in junior hockey.” Said Wild GM, Bliss Littler.
The BCHL season will tentatively start this December with the 17 other BCHL teams.
“The BCHL is very sad that circumstances beyond the control of our valued franchise, the Wenatchee Wild, have caused this shutdown,” said Chairman of the League’s Board of Governors, Graham Fraser. “We wish Bliss Littler and his staff the very best as they get to work on getting back to play for the 2021-22 season.”
