Season Start Update - 11 May 2020

From the NWSF Association …..

There may be some misunderstanding following the PM’s announcement on Friday and the NSW Premier’s comments about the possibility of social gatherings being allowed for up to 10 people from this Friday.

To be clear:

• The FFA suspension of football activities until 31 May still applies

• The Public Health Order restricting gatherings to no more than 2 people still applies

• The AIS Framework for rebooting sport has not yet been adopted by the NSW Govt

Also note the following comment from the NSW Minister for Sport issued yesterday:

The NSW Government notes that National Cabinet endorsed the Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment developed by the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) on Friday 1 May 2020.

The NSW Public Health order signed on the 30th of March 2020, remains in force and prohibits exercise in groups of greater than two.

The NSW Government is considering these issues alongside other restrictions and will update the community should any changes to the Public Health Orders be made.

Before any return to training or competition can occur, the NSW Govt will need to produce its own framework for community sport, and FNSW will be required to have guidelines for return to play approved by the Government. FFA will also need to determine whether the suspension of football activities will be amended, and it is expected this will be done state by state given the different circumstances applying in each state. Finally, local Councils will need to confirm that fields are re-opened.

This may or may not progress this week, however, in the meantime clubs are reminded that until all the above is in place, any type of football activity is not sanctioned and therefore not covered by insurance.

In the meantime, it is suggested clubs give some thought to planning for COVID – safe activities. It is expected that we will all need to have a plan in place before activiities can resume. Some of the issues clubs need to consider include:

• Organisation of training and fields to ensure density requirement is met (groups of 10 people and 1 person per 4sqm) and social distancing is maintained. This could include staggered arrivals and departures.

• Incorporating activities that involve non- contact skills training

• Use of shared equipment – balls, bibs etc. Bibs may have to be allocated to players rather than shared

• Provision of hand washing and sanitising equipment before, during and after activities

• Cleaning of surfaces and equipment – this will need to be done more regularly than normal, so how will this be arranged?

Thankfully its looking more likely we will have a return to play at some point, but we need to be patient for a little while yet.

Regards

Mark Lockie

CEO

NORTH WEST SYDNEY FOOTBALL LTD