Irving Oil Field House Hosting Two National Events

Two championship events are heading to the Irving Oil Field House.

From March 26-27 the Athletics Canada and Canadian Masters Indoor Championship will be held at the field house, followed by the U SPORTS Track and Field Championship on March 31 to April 2.

The championships will be the first national events the field house will host since opening in 2019.

“We are thrilled to host these because each of these events had been planned for years prior to this, but delayed because of the pandemic,” said Bill MacMackin, president of the Saint John Track & Field Club.

It will be the first time the U SPORTS Track and Field Championship will be held in Atlantic Canada.

“As well, these two events have the potential to fill up some hotels, keep the city busy, bring some sports tourism dollars to the community, which was one of the goals of the field house when it was designed and planned, so we are happy to finally to be in a position as COVID-restrictions continue to lift that we can deliver on that,” mentioned MacMackin.

Envision Saint John: The Regional Growth Agency is a gold sponsor for the events and estimates the economic impact for the region from both events is between $1.5 to $2 million.

“The tourism industry was one of the first hit by COVID-19, and one of the hardest-hit industries. It will be among the last to recover. Across the globe, we have seen Sport Tourism playing a leading role in that recovery,” said Paulette Hicks, CEO of Envision Saint John in a release.

“Our region has been anxiously awaiting the return of sporting events and thanks to the great work of our local volunteers and sporting organizations we will begin to feel some of that lift in 2022,” continued Hicks.

Both events will have a wide range of competitions from 60 metre sprints to 5-thousand metre runs, as well as high jump, triple jump, pole vault, long jump, and throws such as shot put.

“We will have a strong Atlantic contingent, we will have a few representatives that have already pre-qualified for the U SPORTS championship … so there’s going to be a strong representation of Atlantic Universities, so it would be exciting to see people come out and see that,” said MacMackin.

To learn more about the events, volunteer opportunities, and more, CLICK HERE.