Following the Government’s announcement on Tuesday 22 September that restricts indoor team sport activity for adults (over 18 year olds) to groups of 6, there will be many leagues and competitions that will impacted as a result of this and organisers who are now having to hang fire or reconsider their competitions for the upcoming season. To support during this time here are a few tips that you can consider to help keep netball leagues and competitions progressing:
- The six person indoor limit does not apply to under 18s so junior competitions can still take place indoors. If you organise both adult and junior leagues, we recommend proceeding with the junior competition as planned, or even starting earlier if this is possible and you have all measures in place.
- We currently do not know how long the rule of six will be in place so could you consider moving your competition outdoors for the 2020/21 season or until competitions are able to re-start indoors. If you need support with sourcing outdoor facilities, please contact your local Netball Development Officer.
- Check in with your teams to help them understand what you, as a league, are doing and what they can do. Adult teams can still train outdoors under the modified rules or within the additional restrictions, indoors (six person bubbles) and we would encourage them to do so where possible.
- Continue to plan and prepare as much as possible. Within our restart and competition guidance there is a lot to consider and whilst indoor competitions for adults are not permitted and you may not be able to move outside for the competition, you can continue to make arrangements for your league to prevent any delays when these restrictions are relaxed.
Following the update last week from the Government, we have made some amendments to our competition guidance to reflect these new restrictions. The latest version is available in the England Netball member exclusive COVID-19 Care Package.