A big hole has been created in the Regina sports community.

On Wednesday afternoon, the family of Warren Woods announced the 66-year-old had lost his battle with COVID-19 as he passed away in a Regina hospital.

In a statement from his children, Chris and Nicole, they say they wish to express their immense gratitude to the doctors, nurses, and specialists at the Regina General Hospital for all their attention and care. They are also grateful for the outpouring of support Warren has received from across the country over the last seven weeks. It’s comforting for them to know how many people cared about their dad.

Woods or “Woodsy” as he was affectionately known by many came to Regina in September of 1987 as part of the first-ever crew at STV Regina (now Global Regina).  He spent many years at Global before finishing his broadcasting career at CJME in Regina just before he became ill.

A GoFund me page had been established for his medical needs earlier this month. It surpassed the $50,000 goal in one day.

Craig Adam, now a relator in Regina, is a good friend of Woods’, the two also hosted Sportsline together on STV/Global Sports in the mid 1990’s.

Adam remembers a very genuine person with an infectious laugh, that fell in love with Saskatchewan and made the province his home.

“That’s him and that’s the way he was,” Adam said. “He kept it real and he loved what he did, he was passionate about sports and really amateur sports right, he loved his high school sports, football and volleyball and of course both male and female sports,” Adam added.

“We had a lot of fun on the air and we didn’t take it too seriously, we knew who our followers were, we knew who was watching and we loved to connect with people. We had fun on the air and off the air, between commercial breaks, out in the field, he (Woods) made it fun to come to work, and really it didn’t even feel like work,” Adam said.

620 CKRM’s Drew Postey spoke with Craig Adam, a former co-worker and good friend of Warren Woods on Thursday morning: