The Kamloops NorthPaws will not be taking the field for their inaugural season in 2021 because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The expansion franchise along with the Victoria HarbourCats, Nanaimo NightOwls, and Edmonton Riverhawks, made the decision to cancel the Canadian component of the 2021 West Coast League baseball season.

The Kelowna Falcons previously announced they would not be a part of the 2021 season.

“We sat down collectively as we do pretty much weekly at this point deciding on when and where and how’s of the league. It was definitely a collective decision between all of the Canadian teams and I think it’s the right one at the end of the day,” Co-owner Jon Pankuch told NL Sports.

“Nobody wanted to cancel the season but definitely, the group of us sat down. So far, it looks like all 10 American teams are going forward but who knows as things change and develop through the world.”

Players who signed to play in Kamloops for the 2021 collegiate season will be released so they can pursue other playing opportunities.

Pankuch adds while they’re disappointed they won’t be able to play this summer, the team owners are looking forward to getting things going next year.

“It’s important for us to make sure that we’re fair not only to our fans and our staff and our players and everybody involved to make the right decision. We’ve always been very optimistic that we’re going to have a season and we had to for a lot of reasons,” he said. “There are a lot of moving parts and lot of things to do to get this team built.”

“The announcement we made here today was probably the right one and it was inevitable that was going to happen given what was going on in the world today.”

One of those moving parts was trying to get players across the border in time to get the season going.

“Most of these kids are NCAA players coming out of the US and their colleges and obviously getting them here and quarantining them and then obviously finding them places to live,” Pankuch said.

“We rely on billets and expecting billets to take in kids that have crossed the border and gone through quarantine I think is a big ask. So a lot of that played into the decision today on why we did what we did.”

Meanwhile, fans who bought a ticket will be contacted and offered a full refund or a rollover to the 2022 season as the NorthPaws shift focus to beginning play next summer.

The team still plans to roll out a number of promotional items throughout the summer “as restrictions ease” including a food truck and a mascot.