Hoopfest has been canceled for a second straight year due to COVID-19 concerns, Executive Director Matt Santangelo announced Wednesday.
Santangelo says the decision was “excruciatingly difficult” and comes after numerous conversations with Governor Inslee’s office, the State Department of Health, SRHD, City of Spokane, and MultiCare Health System. Hoopfest says that “the circumstances have significantly worsened in just the past 48 hours.”
“As the Inland Northwest (INW) community continues to see an increase in the number of COVID-19 Delta variant cases and the region’s hospitals experience record-breaking COVID-19 hospitalizations,” Alex Jackson, President and COO of MultiCare Rockwood Clinic said, “MultiCare agrees with our partners at the Spokane Regional Health District and Hoopfest that it is in the best interest of our community, potential visitors and all MultiCare staff to cancel the Hoopfest basketball tournament for 2021.”
“Bringing together thousands of people poses a risk and would be detrimental to our efforts in caring for our community,” he added.
Spokane Interim Health Officer Dr. Francisco Velázquez commended Hoopfest for making the difficult decision to keep safety as their top priority.
“Matt (Santangelo) and his team have worked diligently for months to make Hoopfest as safe as possible,” Dr. Velázquez said, “and it is unfortunate that the exponential spread of the virus and its Delta variant has caused the event to be cancelled.”
Santangelo adds that they wanted “nothing more than to bounce back stronger than ever in 2021,” and that they worked over the past 16 months to grow the spirit of Hoopfest.
“To our athletes, volunteers, sponsors, and partners, we cannot thank you enough for your enthusiasm, creativity, and continued support,” Santangelo said, “You are the reason this event exists and the reason why it is such an honor to be on the Hoopfest team.”
The announcement from Hoopfest says registered teams have a choice between donating their registration fees or requesting a partial 20% refund. Hoopfest says the reason for the partial refund is that many of the expenses needed to have the event in September were already incurred. An email will be sent to team captains to determine if they would like to donate or receive the refund, and refunds will be processed by September 30th.
All registered teams will received their Hoopfest 2021 official player shirts, regardless of whether they choose to opt for the refund or donate their registration costs. Team captains will also receive a Hoopfest basketball.
