03/24/2020
Hi everyone. Unfortunately, we are coming to you today with disappointing news.
We have made the decision to cancel WCA North American Championship 2020 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Obviously, this is not a decision we ever imagined we would need to make when we first started planning the competition. However, the health of the speedcubing community and our city is our top priority. We could not in good conscience go forward with a competition of this scale knowing that doing so would put people’s health at risk. Given the instability and uncertainty of the situation, postponing the competition to later this year was also not an option for us. Cancelling is the right thing to do.
We wanted to communicate this news as quickly as possible in order to enable you to adjust your plans. The good news in the midst of this unfortunate situation is that we will be able to issue full refunds of registration fees. We need to thank our presenting sponsor, Rubik's Brand Ltd., for generously covering cancellation costs in order to make full refunds possible for competitors and their families. We are grateful for their partnership, particularly during these tumultuous times that have put many people in difficult financial circumstances.
We will be processing refunds in the coming weeks. Please be patient as we sort out some logistics. Additionally, Stripe refunds can take up to 10 business days. We will keep you updated throughout the refund process.
We’d like to thank everyone who played a part in planning NA Champs 2020 up to this stage, including the World Cube Association Board, Rubik’s Brand Ltd., the Westin Harbour Castle, Tourism Toronto and each member of the Organizing Committee. A tremendous amount of time and effort has been put into this competition and we are certainly disappointed that we didn’t get to see the end result. However, given the current state of our world, it’s important to acknowledge that the cancellation of a speedcubing competition is merely a small disappointment, and our hearts go out to those who have lost jobs, loved ones and even their lives. This pandemic has taken a lot from us, but let’s not lose sight of the ways we can give back to each other through caring for our neighbours, spreading joy in our communities and doing our part to ‘flatten the curve’.
We are hopeful and confident that we’ll be able to welcome the international speedcubing community to Toronto for a major competition in the future. Until then, stay well and happy cubing.
