COVID-19 – PARADIGM Sports

How BC is returning to Sport – Phase III

Posted September 2, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, COVID-19, Officials, Organization Executive, Parents

Since we entered the COVID-19 Era, I have had a number of conversations with various youth sports groups regarding the confusion regarding all of the return to play protocols as various provinces go thru their various stages of returning to play.

Our home province, British Columbia, has recently announced that we are now in Phase III thanks to the amazing work that our PHO and Dr. Bonnie Henry have done since COVID-19 lead to shutting down Sports and numerous other sectors.

Although I am excited that we will see sports ramping up this fall, based on recent conversations since I have had with a few user groups I felt best to share what the phase means in terms of returning back to Sport as some are inferring that it literally is GAME ON, meaning, we are good to return back to pre-COVID era and we are still a ways from that being the case.

Below is a summary of all phases of the proposed return to sport plan as a summary for user groups to reference;

What has not changed from prior phases is;

Personal Hygiene – washing hands regularly and using disinfectant
Social Distancing required in common areas like benches, dugouts, dressing rooms, lobbies and entrances (masks in those areas is also recommended)
Maximum gatherings of 50 to include spectators
Symptom Screening before every activity
Contact/Participant tracking

What has been eased up in terms of restrictions;

Cohort groups identified by risk of sports can be anywhere from 10-100
Contact within those cohort groups is now permitted
Competition or games can now be played (adhering to revised protocols)
High Performance training with limited travel

In terms of the actual sizes of cohort groups, as this will vary across a myriad of over 70 sports in BC alone, confirm with your PSO and refer to updated return to play quidelines, a recent example included Basketball BC’s HERE

Lowest risk of Contact – i.e. Archery, Tennis, skiing, golf – Up to 100
Higher risk of contact – Baseball, Cricket, Soccer – Up to 50
Frequent/Sustained Contact Sports – Football, Rugby, Hockey – Up to 50
Combative Sports – Martial Arts, Boxing – Max 10 per cohort

NOTE: Cohort groups includes spectators which are immediate family members only to be considered part of the cohort. Coaches and officials can be counted outside the total cohort number IF they are able to maintain physical distancing at all times.

To determine where your sport falls in terms of the size of cohort groups permitted, reach out to your PSO/RSO for confirmation as it is not a one size fits all approach, each sport will have different guidelines based on their evolving return to play plan and facilities being used.

A couple of examples that I can share with you how user groups implemented to limit COVID-19 exposure and reduce risk to participants (players, coaches and others)

My niece recently flew to Montreal for her first year to play for McGill’s Women’s Varsity Hockey Team. She will be staying in dorm rooms in a converted hotel that McGill purchased and renovated for dorm housing with her own bathroom and common areas for kitchen for cohorts to use only. Similar to the NHL bubble, they will not interact with others out of their cohorts

Her season will start with skills development sessions only, and will find out this week as Quebec enters into their next phase and she shared the original plan for competitive games is for McGill to play Concordia and Ottawa’s USports teams to be within a short travel distance but no travel will be permitted to USA or other provinces until a later date.

Although she will be able to be part of the team for various activities, all of her courses, like all the other students will be done online until further notice, like most other universities at least for this fall.

The second would be easing of instructions for minor hockey associations, the first of which that re-opened its doors with strict COVID-19 protocols was Burnaby Winter Club BWC) in May which we shared Returning Back to Play – Phase II where they took the biggest risk as the first out of the gate but to date no positive COVID-19 cases have been reported months later.

Now all other minor hockey associations in the lower mainland are slowly but surely returning back to the ice with various camps, skills sessions with limited number of skaters and coaches on the ice and aspire to return back to 5 on 5 hockey this coming season.

Ironically in July I had a coach who attended many of the workshops that I ran last year for one of those associations reached out to me if I felt it would be safe for him and his son to return to play and I shared all the work that was being done to ensure that it would be safe, but it would be different at least in the immediate short term.

When ViaSport and our provincial health authority announced that we would be entering phase III, I was excited but at the same time a little weary due to the fact that I have also connected with colleagues in the US, Europe and Australia who have shared how far out they are from returning to sport.

One recent example was a conversation that I had with one of our speakers for our Summer Summit, Rosemary Morris, the first female official of men’s elite basketball in Australia and she stated that they were in full lock-down due to the explosion of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

This included;

Curfew where all residents had to be in their homes from 8PM to 7AM the following day
Only 1 hour of outside time for physical activity, exercises
No retail shopping except essential services (grocery, pharmacy and of course alcohol)
Full cancellation of all sports programming until further notice
Police and Militia enforcement to ensure people follow the lock-down requirements

This right around the time when the Big 10, Pac12, CFL and various other professional, collegiate, school and youth sports cancelled all fall sports programming in Canada, US and abroad to curve the spread of COVID-19.

This is not to say that I am beyond excited that kids in BC, in particular the Vancouver area where I reside, will have the opportunity to return back to playing the sports they love, being with the coaches, team mates and working up a sweat with huge smiles on their faces while they do so.

I just want to make sure that we don’t go to the other extreme as we have seen in many US states who recognized the importance of kids playing youth sports but did not do so in phases adhering to various return to play protocols.

Recently the CDC, like ViaSport has identified various groupings of sport based on risk assessments per the image below

Phase III does permit cohort groups of competition within teams in your area but does not permit tournament play requiring travel to other areas.

Masks, sanitizer, and ultimately participating outdoors are the main recommendations to flatten the curve of COVID-19

Sadly COVID-19 has forced our hand to go down the path of implementing cohorts or bubble environments to limit the interaction and potentially the spread of COVID-19 but as the NHL has shown, if bubble is maintained, it does permit sports to be played.

According to ViaSport, the term cohort is “a group of participants who primarily interact with each other within the sport environment over an extended period of time.”

Similar to the Bubble concept that has been implemented by professional sports like the NHL, NBA once kids are identified for their cohorts they are not permitted to interact with ones that are in other cohort groups and same holds true for coaches, officials if they become members of a cohort (exception being if they can maintain physical distancing then could coach other sports with other cohorts)

However, as the MLB who has not implemented a bubble model like the NHL/NBA/MLS have has shown, the chances of transmission of COVID-19 is much higher even though baseball is one of the sports identified by youth sports groups as being lower risk as by its natures participants are much farther apart then other team sports.

It also does not help when they had a couple of pitchers on one team that went partying in Chicago increasing their exposure, their team mates and potentially others teams they are playing against … but I digress.

The end result is for the foreseeable future, the cohort and or bubble model is necessary for us until such time that there is a vaccine or other treatment protocols for COVID-19 but by doing so, it will permit kids to play what they love, coaches do what they love to do and all other stakeholders return back to the fields, courts, fields and other playing surfaces so we can “Play for the love of the game”

In addition to the new Phase III guidelines, please ensure that you continue to follow health authority, organization and league safety protocols until such time that we do enter phase IV when large gatherings can take place as they had pre-Covid.

Figure it Out

Posted July 11, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, COVID-19, Organization Executive, Parents

I have been sharing for years in lieu of being part of the problem, figure out a solution and ironically this past week I did 3 facebook live interviews with guest speakers who had their own spins on Figure it Out and another time was when I was a BC Hockey Summit where Corey McNabb, the director of player development for Hockey Canada also used the term when referencing the importance of not making drills too linear so that players had an opportunity to figure it out and be creative.

These were two of the three from this week talking about how they were returning back to play after the COVID-19 quarantine period that shut down sport mid March

Steve Boyle – Founder & CEO

When I connected with my good friend and colleague, Steve Boyle, the founder and CEO of 241 sports and he shared Figure it Out several times during our chat as he and his wife Kerry have now ran their second sport sampling camp in the Connecticut area coming out of the COVID-19 Pandemic quarantine period.

Their first camp held last week was what he referred to as the scrimmage, just over 40 campers, where they implemented many changes to their normal programming developed over the last 10 years of hosting camps across the USA to adapt to various return to play guidelines from health authorities, parks and recreation and other governing bodies.

Like we will be doing for our first sport sampling camp we will be running in partnership with 241 Sports at the end of July at Queens Park in New West, BC, they added the following safety protocols to mitigate as much risk of possible for any campers, staff and families to be infected by the COVID-19 virus to include;

Cohort Groups of 10 – kids will be put into cohort groups of 10 for the entire week and will sample 8-10 different sports over the course of the week. They will be assigned 2 junior coaches along with directors that will manage 2 cohort groups to provide the activities

An example of what that cohort group will look like at our camp is one of the groups from this weeks camp with over 162 campers at their flagship camp in Connecticut below

Leaders – will all have masks/bandana’s (like those in the pic) and be lifted when social distancing of less than 6’ is not possible, in particular if have to administer first aid
Lunches – will be ordered from a local sandwich shop for all campers and the sandwich shop will sort by campers order and put in their cohort bags for leaders to pick up when they are delivered. This will prevent any potential of virus contamination to other cohorts as well as challenges to keep the lunches cool during hot days (at this camp the temperature exceeded 100 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees C)

Sports/Sampling – to minimize the contact of equipment and time to sanitize, team sports like lacrosse, floorball will be run for one day only and all cohorts will get a chance to day, but universal activities like stickball, wiffleball, capture the flag, impromptu baseball with tennis raquet/wiffle ball and so on will be various activities kids will get to try over the course of the week

** This differs from prior 241 model where kids would choose 3 sports they would do over the week augmented with a day of universal sports so as a result of COVID-19 safety protocols, Steve and the rest of 241 team FIGURED it Out to provide even more fun and activities vs. cancelling programs as many other sports organizers have done

Arrival/Pickup – kids will be asked questions how they feel, temperature checks as required and so forth when arriving at the park, then will be brought to their cohort for 90 minutes of cohort play time before trying various sports activities each day
Parents are not permitted to exit their cars and masks will be worn by leaders when 6’ or less distancing
Prescreening of the campers before they get out of the cars (list of questions if feel sick etc))
Ensure they have their water name with name on it, own sunscreen, bug spray etc (no sharing will be permitted)

“Don’t change the rules in the middle of the game”

He also had to adapt to health authorities changing the rules in the middle of the game where they changed cohorts to 14 and temperature check requirements and one of the parents shared they signed their kids up based on what safety protocols would be enforced from the get go

He went back to original safety protocols and for each camp going forward whatever standards were in place from day 1 would stay in place and we plan to do the same, whatever the bar that is in place at the start of the camp in terms of safety protocols will remain the bar until the end of the week.

Numerous other examples were shared by Steve in our Facebook live we did can view HERE

Dave Newson, Executive Director Semiahmoo Minor Hockey

Another example of a sports organization that has figured it out came from my discussion with Dave Newson, the Executive Director with Semiahmoo Minor Hockey, who shared with me the weekly calls that he initiated with a couple of minor hockey associations which has now evolved to having representation from every minor hockey association in the lower mainland of Vancouver since April.

In a recent news article that he contributed to he was quoted saying ….

“In the past, we’d get together and we wouldn’t get very much done. People would be very territorial and worry about their own situation.”

— Dave Newson, Semiahmoo minor hockey

Although our Face book live had some challenges with wifi connectivity, Dave shared how all the minor hockey associations who traditionally kept things very close to their chest, as a result of COVID-19 and the impact how it will affect minor hockey association returning back to the ice in the fall, now they are working collaboratively along with PCAHA, BC Hockey and Hockey Canada so they can do so safely.

A few things that he shared will be part of the return to play protocols similar to other sports

Prescreening of players (all ages) will be required before kids are permitted to enter the ice rinks, this will be a series of digital questions each day

Revised Medical sheets with acknowledgement of COVID-19 risks required to be signed before kids return back to the ice

Social distancing will be required and smaller groups on the ice to start like has been done with various private skills developers since BC entered Phase III, the first minor hockey association to do so is South Delta and Semiahmoo and many others have plans for skills camps in August.

One of the biggest challenges will be facilities re-opening again, although the private facilities have already done so like Planet Ice, Canlan, Winter Clubs shared in prior posts, the municipally owned facilities may be slower to open due to budget issues, layoffs of staff during COVID-19 and so forth.

What I found of particular interest in our chat is their (Semiahmoo) and other minor hockey associations registrations are on track to be same as last season although initially the model will be different with various COVID-19 return to play guidelines until we get to phase IV with a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19.

That was exciting to hear, as I and many others I have talked to have feared due to economic challenges that people have faced due to layoffs, losing their jobs, businesses it potentially would have a negative impact on youth sports registrations in the fall.

These are just two of many examples how youth sports organizations are improvising, adapting, overcoming and Figuring it Out.

The upside, is they are doing so collectively and collaborating with “competitors or rivals” when they traditionally would not have in past.

Based on early indications from the private organizations who have been the first out of the gate, particularly Burnaby Winter Club who was the first to open their doors under rigid safety protocols May 5^th, now 2 months later, there have been no positive COVID-19 cases reported which is exciting to hear as well.

The one constant that comes out of all the conversations I am having with various others is we still have a long ways to go, but if we follow the guidelines outlined from health authorities and governing bodies, as the examples above showed from 241 sports and initial hockey, returning and mitigating risks can happen if we work in collaboration to Figure it Out.

Staying the Course

Posted July 4, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, COVID-19, Officials, Organization Executive, Parents

As we slowly see youth sports returning back to the fields, courts, rinks and other playing surfaces and the big smiles on the kids faces for the opportunity to do so, the key thing that keeps coming up with conversations I am having from various stakeholders is the lack of clear direction they are getting from various sources.

As this pandemic we have have all had to face since it started to spread across the globe earlier this year leading to complete shut down of all sports, as it is the first of its kind (hopefully the last), we are all in essence learning how to improvise, adapt and overcome.

Some of the recent discussions I have had with people that I have interviewed for our upcoming Youth Sports Virtual Summit as well as others I have connected with is the biggest challenge is the dissemination of the information to those with their boots on the ground so to speak, the coaches, the players, the officials, board members and other youth sports stakeholders.

A couple of the most recent examples include;

CALIFORNIA

Probably the most extreme example of the breakdown in communication is what happened in California recently from this article shared July 1st.

State recants on Team Sports activities

According to the reporter, many counties were giving the go ahead for drills with no team contact earlier in June, then a few weeks later issued this statement

They subsequently shared there would share further guidance but until such time they did, any youth sports teams that return to play may be guilty of a misdeamour?

All of the youth sports leaders I have connected with the last couple of months have shared their pain points not only in coming up with their return to play guidelines to ensure they meet health authority protocols for physical distancing, sanitization, cohort groups and so forth, but the other big issue has pertained to ensure they have insurance and will not be held liable in the event a stakeholder is tested positive.

Now the State of California is compounded that liability where a volunteer youth sports coach, official, board member will potentially be charged with a criminal offence even though they gave the green light to return provided they adhered to the state guidelines?

CONNECTICUT

Another example was shared to me by my good friend Steve Boyle, founder of 241 sports, whom we partnered with to host the first Canadian 241 Sport Sampling Camp in New Westminster the last week of July.

He shared that the state of Connecticut where he was hosting his first US camp changed the cohort restriction from 10 to 14 and he then shared it with all his parents at the camp would be shifting to larger cohort groups for the remainder of the week as a result.

Soonafter he sent the notice to all of the parents the campers he received an email from a parent saying NO, I signed up my kids to participate in this camp based on all the safety guidelines that you assured us would enforce to mitigate as much risk as possible.

In lieu of emailing her back, he called her and shifted back to maintain the original plan stating I learned “don’t change the rules in the middle of the game”

As Project Plays recent survey shared, over 50 % of parents are leary that their kids may get sick when return back to play as well as similar number shared they were leary they would get sick due to their kids coming out of the safe havens of their homes.

Although the risk for children below the age of 13 is very, very low to contract the virus, in lieu of health authorities or governments/national government bodies changing the rules on the fly, they should be implementing firm plans of action to ensure that they not only flatten the spread of COVID-19 but prevent a further outbreak this fall.

BRITISH COLUMBIA

Below is the quote that Dr. Bonnie Henry has now become infamous for as she has ended each of her COVID-19 updates for all residents of British Columbia, the first time she did so was on St. Patricks Day Mar 17, 2020, 2 days after she and provincial government that we had entered into a state of emergency and staying at home would be necessary so we could flatten the curve. She has now done her regular update for 156 consecutive days since … now a local hero and even they young ones say “Bonnie is keeping us safe”

Thanks to Bonnie staying the course since she recently was highlighted in the New York Times as the Doctor that aced the Coronavirus test for the amazing work she and her team have done to flatten the curve.

This is why I was dumbfounded that Gary Bettman and the rest of the NHL executive team opted to choose another host city to host half of the teams for their upcoming “bubble” stanley cup tournament. In lieu of going to THE city that has done the best to curb the spread of COVID-19 and compromise in terms of requirements issued to comply to keep 5 Million residents of BC safe, the NHL opted to go to two alternate cities, one being Toronto that is in one of Canada’s largest provinces with 15X the outbreak of COVID-19 than BC.

Personally, if I was a NHL player, coach, manager I would want to go to a city that would rather err on the side of caution to ensure the safety of all those that will be entering the bubble.

That said, I know many people I have talked to about the upcoming playoffs and as a result of not seen hockey or any others sports on tv for months, many say they actually are unsure if they will be glued to their TV’s for hours a day when the playoffs for the NHL, NBA as well as start of MLB.

There are various youth sports examples I can share as well, but at the end of the day what I believe, as do many I have talked to all the way up to national governing bodies in Canada, US and abroad is the youth sports landscape will be different at least for the fall, perhaps going into 2021 until a vaccine or treatment is available.

Until then, whatever hat you wear in the youth sports landscape, please stay the course and follow all of your health authority and governing bodies guidelines so we can flatten the curve and get out from under this pandemic.

The last thing any of need is another outbreak this fall if we don’t stay on track, be patient and per Bonnie

Be Kind – Be Calm – Be Safe

It would be great to see if this become PSA’s at various youth sports facilities when we do return to games again don’t you think?

Imagine if everyone in youth sports were kind to each other (vs. pre covid when adults were screaming at players, officials, other adults)

Imagine everyone was calm even when a kid made a mistake, or an official missed a call

Imagine if youth sports becomes safe to fail again like it should be, not what it had become.

Let’s all work together to bring the game back to the kids …. one day at a time, as safely as we can.

What Parents Expect When Youth Sports Return Post COVID-19

Posted June 6, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Coach, COVID-19, Early Sport Specialization, Officials, Organization Executive, Parents

I recently connected with a new officials organization in Illinois called Officially Human and the founder, Brenda Hilton, shared with me a recent survey was done that was circulated to 40 organizations across the US and received over 10,000 responses representing 13 different sports, 91% of those were parents who wore various hats in youth sports as coaches, administrators, officials, facility operators etc.

The survey was conducted by the Sports Innovation Institute based out of the University of Indiana and there were several interesting results that I believe sports organizations in Canada would find of interest as they continue to plan for or start rolling out their return to play guidelines in Phase II.

Below is the table outlining when youth sports can start practicing and play games

86% of the 50 states will be permitting youth sports to start practicing as of May/June
60% have confirmed that youth sports organizations will be able to start playing games

Compare this to Canadian Youth Sports that we have shared guidelines of returning to play today, many sports will be permitted to start returning to play for skills development sessions only and no confirmed dates when competitive games/tournaments will be permitted

The specific survey focused on the top 12 most common concerns identified from looking at various documents from governing bodies, trade associations and media articles

Arrival and Departure Times: Changing arrival and departure times to limit time at the venue (I.e. waiting in the car before practice/game begins, coming to the facility fully dresses, leaving immediately once the game is over)

No Spectators: Limiting youth sports competitions to players, coaches, and game officials.

Spectators under 65 with No CDC-Indicated Underlying Medical Conditions: Limiting spectators at youth sports competitions to immediate family or maximum of two people who are under the age of 65 and have no pre-existing CDC identified conditions

Health Screening: Answering a questionnaire that asks for contact information, travel itinerary, lodging, and health (status) i.e. fevers, COVID-19 symptoms to gain venue admission

Social Distancing: Sitting or standing at least 6’ (2M) apart from others in spectating areas (i.e. blocking access to bleachers, sitting every third seat or row, standing in designated locations)

Social Distancing with Respect: Treating even staff with respect if they approach you to strictly enforce social distancing guidelines

Facemasks: Being required to wear a facemask while spectating

Increased Sanitization: Facilities increasing the efforts before, during, and after events (i.e. frequent and visible cleaning, hand sanitizer available throughout the venue especially in high touch areas)

Playing Areas and Equipment: Playing areas and equipment being sanitized after each competition

Amenities: Amenities being closed at sports venues (i.e. concessions, drinking fountains, lobbies, playgrounds, entertainment centres)

Bench and Dugouts: Minimizing the capacity of bench and dugout areas for athletes

Personal Contact: Limiting personal contact between players (i.e. handshakes, high fives, hugs)

Below is the list of organizations who provided responses from private/local sports orgs all the way to NGB’s

The survey results utilized the Kano Model, below is the legend to interpret

Returning Back to Play – Phase II

Posted June 4, 2020January 27, 2022 Glen MulcahyPosted in Athlete, Coach, Officials, Organization Executive, Parents

After a 2+ month quarantine period, many provinces, states and countries are starting to ease up on the physical distancing measures implemented to ensure that we flatten the curve of COVID19.

In phase I, we have seen restaurants, hair salons, non-essential retail, hotels and other services return with various safety guidelines to ensure that we continue to flatten the curve of COVID19 but slowly return to a sense of normalcy.

The sector that we are involved with is one that I am most excited in seeing work on return to play protocols, youth sports.

What I have found over the last couple of months during the hiatus, however, is the overall direction provided from national authorities and the trickle down effect from national, to provincial (or state), to municipal levels and literally every organization I have talked to saying they are waiting to see what their respective governing bodies provide in terms of guidelines so they can start the process of having their members return to play.

The first of the most anticipated documents that all sports groups in British Columbia (our home province in Canada) were waiting for was the guidelines for ViaSport, the provincial governing body under new leadership and legacy from the 2010 Winter Olympics held in Vancouver/Whistler.

The link to the guidelines has now been released, click on the image below to download a copy for reference.

The 35-page document outlines a generic return to play guidelines for all provincial sports organizations to then create their own guidelines to then in turn provide to their local organizations to the same.

Note that ViaSport is requiring that level has their own return to play guidelines, board members review/approve before are provided to their memberships.

I.e. First The National Sport Organization, then Provincial, then Regional (if applicable) and lastly local sports organizations.

The document was released June 1^st, so it will take weeks for the various levels to prepare their own set of return to play guidelines to minimize the risk of the further spread of the COVID19 virus.

Yesterday I attended a webinar that was hosted one of my colleagues in Alberta, Lea Weins a Quality Sport Consultant in Alberta, outlining the project they undertook in various communities in Alberta identifying what quality sport would look like which now will look different as a result of the various health and governing guidelines

What I found interesting was a poll of the attendees from various sports organizations highlighted what I suspected, almost all (97%) stated that their were looking for clear guidelines and timelines to return back to activity. Almost half were looking for assistance to mitigate risk as well as sanitization/cleaning support to ensure the safety of participants.

Source: Alberta Quality Sport Webinar June 2, 2020

This theme is consistent regardless of what sports organization I have talked to in recent weeks and I came across a survey that was done for Project Play By North Carolina and Utah universities of over 1000 youth sports parents in the USA

When asked how comfortable they were with their kids returning to sports 49.5% of parents are afraid of their kids getting sick if sport resumes and just shy of 46% stated they are afraid of getting sick if their child returns to sport!

When parents were asked of their comfort level for their kids returning to various types of sport, over 70% were comfortable for their kids to return to pickup sports (AKA Free Play) and only 50% for what was the pay to play model pre-covid in terms of travel/elite club league sports.

In literally every webinar, Zoom or phone call I have had for over a month the one thing that was consistent was the LACK of consistency but it is due to the fact that every sport has their own challenges how they will return to play, some are low risk (i.e. archery) vs. higher risk team contact sports (rugby) how they can modify their practice sessions initially to adhere to physically distancing requirements.

Below is a chart prepared outlining the various phases for sport activity (also prepared by ViaSport)

Phase I – State of Emergency Quarantine Period (March 13- May 18^th)

Phase II – the phase we (and others are about to enter)

Notice the bare minimum requirements regardless of the sport

Physical Distancing (6’/2m) must still be adhered to
Increased Hand Hygiene (washing hands for 20 seconds regularly)
Outdoor participation is safest … indoor facilities (gyms, pools, rinks) slowly reopening
Small Groups, no or limited spectators, focus on fundamental movement skills
NO Contact activities which will require contact sports like Rugby, Football, Hockey to revamp programming but also many others like basketball, soccer to ensure adhere to physical distancing
Minimal shared equipment and must be disinfected frequently

Phase III/IV are still a ways away so in the short term (at least until September 1^st projected for Phase III), any spring programs/summer camps will have to improvise, adapt and overcome to meet the COVID19 phase II guidelines.

Here are some of the challenges that are holding back sports organizations from shifting to phase II

Insurance Requirements and if a pandemic/contagion exclusion is needed
Updates to Player Participation/Waivers to include COVID19 disclaimer (i.e. that organizations are not to be found liable if participants test positive for COVID19)
Facility Rental – Who is going to bear the costs (product and payroll) to ensure that common areas, equipment is sanitized and if masks will be needed
Scheduling – to ensure minimize overlap of large groups for dropping off/pick up of participants
Spectators – Yes or No … if so how many?
Total Number of participants permitted (players, coaches, trainers, other)?
Will lower numbers make the business model viable?

I even had some ask about what others were doing in terms of tryouts, coach and team selection which I shared that was not even being considered, the goal was merely to get kids back out to their sports in the safest way possible, there are not going to be any competitive games in phase II from the all the sanctioned sports organizations I have talked to.

**As far as non-sanctioned sports that is another thing it itself, only time will tell if they also practice the DO NO HARM philosophy vs. ramping up games and tournaments before health authorities deem it safe for us to do so **

Why is there so much ambiguity, confusion?

Because even the experts are no longer experts when it comes to dealing with a pandemic like the novel coronavirus, which is why over and over again we are hearing the term unprecedented. Never in the course of human history has ALL sport been shut down, from professional to U-sport to high school and community sports.

The other challenge is there are many organizations leary of taking the risk of putting their toe in the water until someone else does so or they are given clear outlines from the higher-ups so to speak.

In sum, as health authorities have now deemed it safe for us to enter phase II, we shared in “What will the new Normal Be” how some organizations were returning to play starting with the infamous Mother’s Day Baseball tourney hosted in St. Louis that many felt was too much too soon.

I just checked my best friend Google to see if any other news had been shared since and to date there have been no reported cases of people that tested positive that participated in the event.

There have been a few others that have or are about to open their doors to return back to play implementing various safety measures to adhere to health authority guidelines.

Following the lead of Burnaby Winter Club who re-opened for bookings May 5^th with rigid safety protocols, now my the multi-sheet facility that I coached at for many years has re-opened after their parking lot was turned into a Hyundai new vehicle parking lot

I started to see cars being parked early part of April as I drove past the rink which I can only assume was a means to generate some revenue as the private facility did close its doors to adhere to the quarantine period.

Fast Forward to May 19^th, they also have opened up 2 of their 4 sheets of ice for skill development sessions like BWC according to Surrey Community staff member that shared during one of the many webinars I have done the last month.

Note – just in a few days the facility manager confirmed that 95% of their ice was booked!

Only 6 skaters are permitted on the ice with a skills instructor, dressing rooms and concession are closed, and there is a one way flow inside the arena

They also have been creative in terms of signage for spectators (only one per player permitted and for markings on the ice to ensure that players adhere to physical distancing, including expanding the goalie crease by 6’!

Once Soccer Canada, ViaSport reviewed BC Soccer released their return to play guidelines on June 3rd.

Click on the image for the guidelines shared with their members

They outline 3 return to play phases only so their phase I is what ViaSport is calling phase II (after the quarantine period)

The documents include guidelines for local organizations, sample sessions and timelines

The sample sessions do outline how fields can be utilized (outdoors) to ensure that number of attendees on the field at any one time does not exceed 50

Session Example of 10 players in group 1 with 2 coaches working on various soccer skills

There is no reference to competitive game play, only skill sessions which adheres to ViaSports and BC Health Authority Guidelines.

Still working on their return to play guidelines for clubs but one of their directors shared in webinar how they envision their return to play will be in three components;

#1 – Only singles play, no doubles or mixed doubles play will be permitted

This will be mandatory for U11 and U9 age groups to start which they believe will be a good thing for their overall sport so coaches can focus less on tactics and more on skill development until the players mature and players have the skills to execute tactics

This also will permit coaches to do more one on one coaching vs. group sessions where coach to player ratio was a high as 1:8

HMMMMM … where I have I shared that before???

#2 – No Spectators initially, only players and coaches will be permitted

#3 – They had already started looking at piloting but are going to roll out AIR Badminton (AKA outside badminton like kids have done in their yards for 2 months during quarantine)

This was initiated pre-COVID lockdown to provide another playing experience than indoor, similar to the Beach Volleyball concept

More examples will follow in the coming weeks as more organizations release their return to play guidelines but as the cliché goes, good always comes out of bad and as more and more sports ramp up for Phase II the challenges we faced pre-covid in terms of adult behavior in the stands/sidelines, focusing on winning at all costs will not be an issue we deal with.

Perhaps this also will be the much-needed catalyst for sports in North America to consider other youth sports development models that we have shared in past like Norway, Sweden and Iceland who don’t even have competitive games until kids acquire the skills to from 6-12 years of age and as a result have had huge success at the Olympic and International Levels as a result.

Only time will tell.

Let’s all work together to bring the game back to the kids.