Who is popular today?

The province announced $15 million in pandemic-relief funding Wednesday for B.C.-based amateur leagues and teams competing at the provincial, national or international level. No specific leagues or teams were mentioned.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport said viaSport, which will administer the fund, will work with the leagues “to see which leagues get what — they are working out the details.”

Applications will be accepted through the viaSport website in a couple of weeks, according to the organization, which administers amateur sports in the province.

The funds are earmarked for leagues and teams that are owned and operated in B.C., do not compensate athletes as employees and can demonstrate at least a 30 per cent loss in revenue due to the pandemic. University and college teams are not eligible.

“We have heard from hockey leagues about the pandemic being a tough opponent,” Premier John Horgan said in a statement.

“This new relief fund will help them and other amateur leagues to get through these challenging times. We want sports fans to be able once again to cheer for their favourite teams on the diamond, at the local arena and on the pitch once the pandemic is over.”

The five Western Hockey League teams in the B.C. Division and the 16 provincial teams in the B.C. Hockey League have a separate joint request in for $9.5 million in pandemic-relief funding from the province. There was no mention made of that in Wednesday’s announcement. The WHL/BCHL request is not believed to be part of the $15 million announced.

“B.C.-based amateur sport organizations play a vital role in developing athletes who represent B.C. in provincial, national and international competition,” said Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport Minister Melanie Mark in a statement.

“Some of these athletes have spent their whole lives working to get to this stage. This investment is another important measure … so amateur athletes can continue to follow their dreams.”

The new funding is on top of $1.5 million previously announced through the Local Sport Relief Fund for 288 sports organizations around the province. A second intake round for that program, of approximately the same amount, was approved this month, with funding from the federal government.

cdheensaw@timescolonist