THUNDER BAY – Tony Colistro says he was looking forward to a return to a refurbished Chapples Field in 2020.
The excitement will have to carry over to 2021.
The United Soccer League Two franchise, who won the PDL championship in 2008 and played in the league final in 2010, 2013 and 2017, on Friday announced they were taking a one-year hiatus.
Colistro, the Chill's president and former coach, said it was actually a fairly easy decision to make, as painful as it might have been.
Colistro said cross-border concerns – the Canadian and United States mutually agreed last month to temporarily close the border between the two countries – and the ongoing fear of COVID-19 meant it was going to be all but impossible for the Chill to put a team on the field this summer.
“It’s a new world that we’re living in now and I’m just hoping we’ll get to some sort of normalcy that we can get back,” Colistro said.
“It’s bittersweet. We were really looking forward to moving to Chapples this year and we had a strong contingency of players coming from all over the world. We really worked hard in the offseason to make sure that we were able to get back to the playoffs.”
The Chill, who have played at Fort William Stadium full time since 2015, made the postseason every year but once from 2007 to 2017, but have missed the past two playoffs.
Colistro said it’s the right decision. The health of his players, coaches, staff and fans is too important to risk during the pandemic, which has killed more than 100,000 world-wide and infected at least 25 people in the Thunder Bay area.
“It’s just something we can’t be a part of this season.”
He’s hopeful the team can return as strong as ever in 2021.
The move has no impact on the team’s standing with USL2, Colistro added.
“Absolutely not, the league is very understanding. We’re not the only team. Some divisions just cancelled completely. They’re really leaving it open to making a division announcement or a team announcement.
The 82-team league had already announced a delay to the start of the season, pushing the start back to May 10. The Chill weren’t scheduled to open their 2020 campaign until May 29 against FC Manitoba, another team that won’t be playing USL2 matches this summer, along with expansion Peoria City.
The five remaining American teams in the Heartland Division – Chicago FC United, the Green Bay Voyageurs, the St. Louis Lions, Kaw Valley FC and the Des Moines Menace, are looking at ways to play meaningful soccer this summer, though the teams have not yet indicated what that might look like.
The league said the Chill will be welcomed back with open arms next season.
“We absolutely support the Thunder Bay Chill decision,” said USL Vice President Joel Nash. “At the end of the day, it was about much more than soccer and we look forward to welcoming them back even stronger in 2021.”
Colistro said he will begin speaking to sponsors about options and promised full refunds for season ticket holders. Decisions must still be made about the team’s coaching staff and the organization’s youth program for the upcoming outdoor season.
