Regional Season Extended

by Kris Sonsteby, Director of Organized Play

13th May 2020

As many of you know, COVID-19 has impacted nearly every aspect of daily life worldwide. School closures, working from home, social distancing... things that did not exist or even seem plausible as recently as last Fall are commonplace now, less than eight months later. With so much in turmoil, the Organized Play team intends to be both adaptive and responsive as we move forward with the upcoming competitive season. We serve in support of our player community, and we do that best when we listen to your concerns. Today's announcement pertains to the Regional Championships, but rest assured our conversations regarding future Trek Masters Championships, the Continental Championships, and the World Championships are also ongoing.

In acknowledging that many areas experienced government madated shelter in place orders to combat the virus for the second half of March, all of April, and now the first half of May, the Organized Play team has decided to extend Regional season. At first, we felt an extra month to allow the first step on the Road to Worlds to transpire would be sufficient. Then, we talked about adding an extra two month window. But with persistent upward case trends and without a COVID-19 vaccine just over the horizon, we ultimately felt there was no reason to put a time table on Regional Season at all during this chaotic time. We want our player community to get together at their respective local venues once it is safe to do so, and that is likely to vary greatly depending upon where in the world they are located. Therefore, we have decided to extend Regional Season throughout the remainder of 2020. Whether your local group can get together in person in June, or even if it takes until December before you feel comfortable getting everyone together again, we just want you to play.

Our various Ambassadors / tournament directors are therefore encouraged to continue purchasing Regional kits as usual, and can rest assured that these tournaments will be given the prestige they deserve no matter when they finally take place. All we ask is that you notify your respective Continental Coordinator and / or myself so that your events can get properly flagged and we can get your Regional kits mailed out to you in a timely fashion. However... and now whenever... you feel safe to host your event, you have our support. Stay safe, everyone. We are all in this together, after all.

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