5/24/20   Here is part of an email that went out to coaches today.  If you are a parent with a player on a team registered for the June 12-14 Northern Classic, please contact your coach for additional information regarding refunds or the option of playing on the rescheduled date of July 17-19.

It is with great disappointment that I’m writing to let you know that the Northern Classic will not take place on the weekend of June 12-14.

As you know, on Friday night of Memorial Day weekend, Governor Whitmer announced continued restrictions on travel (stay home, stay safe) and on the size of gatherings (no more than 10 in a group), among other things.  Without these restrictions being relaxed, we are forced to at least postpone, if not cancel, scheduled tournaments in our Traverse City summer series, including the Northern Classic in which your team is registered.

Almost all of the fields we have available for use in Traverse City are owned or managed by government entities—Grand Traverse County, Traverse City Area Public Schools, and townships surrounding Traverse City.  These groups are great partners…very supportive, great people in place locally.  They are 100% behind the Waves’ goal of providing girls the opportunity to play quality tournament softball in a fun, safe atmosphere in Traverse City.  After speaking with representatives of all of these entities in the past 10 days, though, I can tell you that they are going to properly follow the governor’s restrictions and recommendations to the letter.  For us, that means none of these fields will be available for tournament play until those restrictions are relaxed.

As an organization, we are confident we can provide a safe atmosphere in which to play, given the chance.  We have borrowed and/or developed a list of policies and procedures for return-to-play that will be implemented to mitigate the concern surrounding low-risk participants playing a no- or low-contact sport outdoors in the virus-killing sun while their parents and siblings implement social distancing measures.   However, we DEFINITELY understand many people’s hesitance to travel and are mindful of the toll unemployment issues have taken on Michigan families, including those in our extended tournament softball family.  We’re all in a very difficult situation.  Please check back for updates.