A long running hockey program to get less fortunate kids on the ice has been hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2020 edition of Knobby's Kids at the Lanspeary Park outdoor rink has been called off due to concerns over keeping the children and volunteers safe.
President Marty Kerester is calling the decision to cancel the program heartbreaking.
Kerester says they're going to make sure the kids who missed out this year get a chance to participate in 2021.
"Believe me, it was not an easy decision, but yes we cancelled it for this year. We're going to raise the age one year so that the graduates that were going to graduate this year can graduate next year so they won't miss a year," he says.
Kerester says this was not the news he wanted to share with the skaters.
"We know how disappointed these kids are going to be. When you're out there and you see the smiles on their faces and they come out, you know they want to be there," he says. "We all got together and we did the pros, we did the cons and we just said we couldn't do it this year and put everybody at risk."
Kerester says the decision to not move forward this year wasn't made overnight.
"There's a lot of work that goes into it before the kids even hit the ice. So we decided let's talk about it in August. We got together and there was still a chance that we could do it. Then we got together again in the beginning of September and just said it doesn't seem like it's going to get any better any time soon," he adds.
This would have been the 14th year for the Knobby's Kids program which provides hockey equipment and ice time free of charge to kids eight to 11-years-old who can't afford to play.
Last year, 140 kids took part in the program, playing hockey every Saturday morning from December to March.
With files from Rob Hindi