The Briercrest Clippers men's basketball team, like many teams in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference, is wondering if they'll play this year.

Head coach Shane Sowden had 10 players out of 13 coming back from last year, but there are some questions about when the team might actually be able to take the court.

"Will our international student-athletes be permitted to cross the border, and if so when, and what does that look like?" Sowden said. "I know from a basketball standpoint, each of the schools in our conference, a lot of them have two or three international students that they rely heavily upon. If we have a season, and we're not allowed to have international students, that creates an interesting situation, which, in many ways, I think would be a lot of fun." 

The ACAC's leading scorer last year in the men's league was NAIT's Sean-Michael Clancey, who is from Las Vegas. The second-leading scorer was Liam O'Hallahan of GPRC, who hails from Ngatea, New Zealand. Top rebounder was Medicine Hat Rattlers' guard Kieron Burgess of Hamilton, Bermuda.

A season without those players, or top-ranked Lethbridge College's Orin Porter, from Nevada, would certainly look unlike any other ACAC season in recent memory. Meanwhile, the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference hasn't made a decision when it comes to the upcoming season.

"All we know so far is that USport... has suspended everything until January. I know the OCAA has suspended their operations until January 1, so I think the ACAC is taking a wait and see approach.  They're sensitive in making a final decision too soon," Sowden said. 

Nationals for the fall sports, like men's and women's soccer, have already been canceled at the CCAA level.