40th New Waterford Coal Bowl Classic cancelled

The New Waterford Coal Bowl Classic has been cancelled due to the record-breaking snowfall in Sydney.

In a Facebook post on Monday, organizers of the national invitational high school basketball tournament which would have celebrated its 40th anniversary this year said the decision was made with the "safety of all participants in mind."

"With the Local State of Emergency in place in CBRM after record snowfall amounts, the Board of directors respects the need to keep people off the streets as ongoing snow removal efforts continue," the post read.

CBRMis digging out after a prolonged snowstorm that lasted from Friday to Monday, with some parts of Sydney seeing as much as 150 centimetres on the ground.

"As you can appreciate, a great amount of time, effort and thought goes into preparing for an event of this magnitude, so this decision was not made lightly," organizers said.

"We understand this announcement will be very disappointing for everyone involved, especially for our players, coaches, spectators, sponsors and fans. Although it is not the outcome we had hoped for, it is the only option at this time."

Safety key concern

Organizers said a meeting will take place to discuss "purchased tickets and sponsorships when it is safe to do so."

"On behalf of the Coal Bowl Board of Directors, we appreciate your patience and support during this time. We sincerely hope you are all able to stay safe and we look forward to hosting you in the future!"

The snow delayed the arrival of several teams from Alberta and Quebec.

In an interview on Sunday, Aimee Romard, the co-chair of the tournament, told CBC News that she had hoped an abridged version of the tournament could happen.

While there has been a tradition of snow storms during the tournament Romard said players got stuckat Breton Education Centre during a storm in 1992 she says it's the first time a storm has delayed the start of the tournament.

"Our main priority is to make sure that our participants and our fans are safe, so we're taking all of that into consideration," Romard told CBCNews.

'For us it's a big cultural event,' coach says

Guy Langlois is a coach from a Quebec team who isstuck in Truro. He told CBC News on Sunday players are trying to make the best of the situation by getting ahead on some homework so they would have more time to enjoy themselves at the tournament.

"They bought it and said,'Yeah that's a good idea coach,'" saidLanglois, who is also a math teacher.

He said everyone was excited to play in New Waterford.

"We're going to the tournament to build upteam leadership and team spirit with the kids here and also the visit, the cultural visit. It's a prettynice part for us and the chance to practice English ... for us it's a big cultural event, for us it's not just about basketball," Langlois said.

WATCH | Volunteers get ready for Coal Bowl Classic 40th anniversary:

Volunteers get ready for Coal Bowl Classic 40th anniversary

9 months ago

Duration 2:06

The basketball tournament in Cape Breton has hosted over 1,000 games to date. A team of roughly 400 volunteers is getting things ready for the Coal Bowl Classic on Feb. 5. The CBC's Amy MacNeil has more.