THUNDER BAY -- University sports are slated to return on Feb. 9.
Ontario University Athletics on Friday announced athletes can return to training on Jan. 31, the day the province begins to loosen COVID-19 restrictions that led them to extend a pre-Christmas pause originally scheduled to end on Jan. 24.
Competition can start as early as Feb. 9, though the Lakehead Thunderwolves men's and women's basketball team won't return to action until Feb. 11, when they're scheduled to host the Guelph Gryphons for two consecutive nights.
The men's hockey team is on the road on Feb. 11 and Feb. 12 against the Toronto Varsity Blues, with their final home games of 2021-22 slated for the following weekend when the Brock Badgers invade Fort William Gardens. The women's volleyball team's next sheduled game is at home on Feb. 18 against Guelph.
The OUA, in a release, does not say if any of the games postponed by the pause will be made up, stating it will announce more information next week about the return to play plan.
