2022 Season Preview: Fort McMurray Giants

The Western Canadian Baseball League is back in Fort Mac.

After a two-year absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Northern Alberta community is welcoming the return of WCBL action in 2022.

The team is hoping this will be the year they take the next step towards a championship title.

Five Storylines We’re Watching in 2022

It will come as no surprise that the developments around COVID-19 will continue to dominate the sports headlines in the months ahead.

But assuming we can have a normal(ish) summer, what other storylines should we be watching?

We take out our crystal ball to look at the five stories that we expect will have local, provincial and national implications.

Northern Exposure

The Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) has announced plans to soldier on with a 2021 season that will feature all-Canadian lineups for the first time in the summer collegiate circuit’s history.

Facing uncertainty over a number of COVID-19 pandemic issues – including health restrictions that will likely impact attendance and game-day activities, as well as unease about the timeline for the reopening of the Canada-U.S. border – the WCBL has made a number of significant changes for this year’s season.

Steal My Sunshine

Those dark clouds hovering over the baseball world don’t seem to be going anywhere. What started as a bleak-looking rain delay graduated to postponed games, and we are now in a phase where many cancelled contests won’t ever be played.

What’s lost may never be found.

One of the latest casualties of the COVID-19 pandemic is the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL), a summer collegiate circuit previously known as the Western Major Baseball League with historical roots dating back to the 1930s.

Season in the Balance

There have been a lot of questions surrounding the upcoming summer baseball season in Alberta, across this country and around the world. Will it happen? Can we have a shortened campaign? How willing are players and fans to take part?

Those questions and more have been hanging over the head of Kevin Kvame. Over the last few weeks, the Western Canadian Baseball League (WCBL) president has been trying to stay on top of all of the COVID-19 developments.

We spoke with Kvame about the current status of the WCBL.