What is there to be said about 2020? It was a difficult time for many because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Beginning in March, in the Yukon, sport organizations were forced to cancel events and programming to ensure everyone’s safety.

Despite the setbacks, organizations and athletes did not remain complacent. Instead, they asked themselves “What can we do? Not what can’t we do?”

It may have been an odd year, but the Yukon’s sports community still remained strong and vibrant and deserves to be celebrated.

Below is a recap of some of the year’s triumphs. Sorry not everyone could make it in. Please enjoy.

January

Dylan Cozens makes his triumphant return to Whitehorse after helping Canada win the gold medal at the world junior hockey championships in Ostrava, Czech Republic. Cozens scored the first gold for Canada in their 4-3 victory over Russia.

The Yukon had its first Lego League qualifier. Six teams vied in the inaugural event with a spot at provincials on the line. The Yukon All Sparks came out victorious.

Skiers Derek Deuling and Sasha Masson represented Canada at the Youth Olympic Games in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Special Olympics Yukon held its first unified bocce tournament. The bocce brought together athletes with and without special needs. The winners earned a spot at the 2020 Special Olympics School Championships in Kingston.

February

Freestyle skier Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon set a career-best in placing fifth at the Mammoth, California slopestyle world cup event. He one-upped his previous best of sixth which he accomplished in January while competing in Italy. Later in the month, Geoffroy-Gagnon placed seventh in Calgary.

Eureka, Alaska musher Brent Sass repeated as Yukon Quest champion. Sass and local musher Michelle Phillips were neck-and-neck throughout the race but Sass was able to get out front for good while leaving Braeburn toward Whitehorse. Sass was also the first musher into Dawson City.

March

The Kal Tire Peewee Mustangs went undefeated in the Golden Rockets Aeros Tournament in Golden, B.C. The team went unbeaten in round-robin play to earn a berth in the final. In the championship game, they overcame a 2-1 deficit to force a shootout.

March 7 was a gloomy day for Yukon sports. This was the day the 2020 Arctic Winter Games, celebrating their 50th anniversary, were cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. This trend of cancelled events will be a theme for the next few months.

The cancellation started the domino effect on sports, but March still saw some season’s come to a close. The Porter Creek Rams boys and the F.H. Collins Warriors girls won the Superhoops finals.

A parade was held for Yukon athletes, coaches, and volunteers who would have been involved in the 2020 Arctic Winter Games.

April - May

The pandemic shut it all down. However, athletes and coaches came up with creative ways to stay connected and on top of their training as best they could.

The Polarettes did training and checked in on each other over Zoom, as did the Whitehorse Glacier Bears. Special Olympics Yukon started the Break Up the Boredom campaign to keep athlete’s engaged.

Here at the Star sports desk, we took many a trip down memory lane to show the vibrant sports community in the Yukon.

In April: Olympic cross country skier Emily Nishikawa called it a career; golf courses get the all-clear to tee off with restrictions in place.

In May: The Polarettes become the first gymnastics club to reopen in Canada. Ten athletes, Sasha Masson, Romeo Champagne, Maren Bilsky, Ole Heath, Aimery Barrault, Emma Boyd, Rhys Faragher, Derek Deuling, Sonjaa Schmidt, and Andreas Lavanderos make varsity teams.

June

The world of sports began to re-awaken in the spring and summer as organizations began work within the COVID-19 guidelines and continue their programming.

Bob Daffe, the noted canoe and kayak-builder and coach became the newest inductee into the Sports Hall of Fame.

Cozens is selected to Hockey Canada’s virtual National Junior Team Sport Chek Summer Development Camp. This was the first step in being selected for the ongoing world junior championships.

The Reckless Raven was the first non-virtual event to be held during the pandemic.

July

The eighth annual Burl Cup Canada Day disc golf tournament saw a record number of participants come out to play.

Taylor Tripp ran 100-kilometres to raise funds for the Whitehorse Food Bank.

Twenty-six women competed in the ShredHers inaugural enduro mountain bike race. It was an idea, said organizer Michelle Friesen, formulated because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

August

Many outdoor sports were still able to hold their events in August. Flatwater North crowned its Yukon Champions, U Kon Echelon held its Tour de Haines race and Kaelen Halowaty repeated as the Yukon Tennis junior champion winning the title in straight sets.

September

The Yukon Quest announced it was cancelling the 2021 race on the Yukon side. Earlier in the year, it was decided each board, in Whitehorse and Fairbanks would host a shortened race. Alaska is still holding a Quest race.

Athletics Yukon held its first race on the new F.H. Collins track late in the month after it was officially unveiled in early September.

October

It was a busy-ish month in October. Outdoor sports continued to go strong, ending with a U Kon Echelon Halloween race.

Indoor sports had more of a struggle. The organizations that relied on school gyms had to use the Canada Games Centre as gym use was delayed again.

November

The Filipino Canadian Basketball League of Yukon was able to resume its 13th season earlier in the fall months but in mid-November, Domino’s Pizza was able to down Elias Dental to take the under 35 crown in an action-packed three-game series.

Dawsonite Jack Amos and his friend Joe Robertson began a 500-kilometre run from Port Hardy, B.C. to Mile 1 in Victoria to support 1Up Victoria Single Parent Resource Centre. The pair raised over $12,000 for the cause.

The 2021 Yukon Native Hockey Tournament was cancelled for the second year in a row due to COVID-19 concerns.

The Polarettes Gymnastics Club held its first-ever Parkour Jam. Athletes competed in a speedrunning challenge and a freestyle floor routine.

December

The Dog Powered Sports Association of the Yukon announced they will be holding the Yukon Journey 450. The race will be from Dawson City to Whitehorse. The first half of the event, to Pelly Crossing, will be untimed.

One of the focuses of the race will be the increased emphasis on dog care.

Let’s bring this year-in-review full circle. In mid-December, it was announced Dylan Cozens had made Team Canada’s world junior team again.

On Boxing Day, the tournament began and Cozens got three goals and three assists in a blow-out of Germany 16-2.

He was named player of the game.

Then against Slovakia, he became the first Yukon-born player to wear the captain’s C for Canada.