COVID-19: Progression Updates and Further Advice for Teams
/State Specific Updates:
We are pleased to announce progression updates for almost all states.
Excitingly, South Australia and Western Australia are now at State 4 of the Quidditch Australia Resumption of Play Plan, with competitions and full contact now allowed again. Congratulations! Note that in SA, teams must submit a COVID Safe plan to the government here.
ACT, NSW, and QLD are now all also at Step 3B of the QARPP. This means that players may attend trainings of any number of clubs, and full contact may resume at trainings, in a gradual manner.
NSW Teams should please note that as a government requirement, any trainings with over 20 people must fill out a Covid Safety Plan. Please fill in the PDF form specific for community sporting competitions and full training (which you can find at the above link, or under Industry Guidelines for COVID Safe workplaces on the NSW Government website), and return to Quidditch Australia (admin@quidditchaustralia.org). This is a useful and recommended safety exercise for all teams, regardless of numbers at trainings.
As a part of putting these safety plans in place, you must of course also make sure you communicate these plans and virus spread mitigation strategies to all members of your club who are attending your events.
Unfortunately, with the increase in cases in Victoria, we are holding the state at Step 1B for the present time. The suburbs under lockdown (currently 3012, 3021, 3032, 3038, 3042, 3046, 3047, 3055, 3060, and 3064) are under a total suspension of quidditch - no quidditch activities should be held here, and any players who reside in these postcodes should not participate in playing quidditch until the lockdown has eased.
Please note that if cases continue to increase, and further areas of Melbourne are put under lockdown these restrictions will apply to any additional postcodes as well, and we may decide to move back to Step 1B or a total suspension of play again, as required.
Important Advice & Reminders for All Teams:
1. It is critical that return to full contact play is GRADUAL.
Quidditch Australia recommends spending a few weeks resuming light contact training (with marking, stiff arming, boxing out, etc.) and practising simple contact drills such as wrapping and falling, before resuming wrapping and tackling in more competitive fashion. After a long period without playing, risk of injury is relatively high, and we don’t want players coming back to quidditch at the end of lock down onto to be injured out of play. It is the responsibility of clubs to assess the level appropriate for their players and the amount of training they have resumed.
2. It is critical that clubs maintain attendance records and contact information for all players attending their trainings.
This is especially important now with people able to attend trainings of multiple clubs again, where clubs may not have contact information on record. It is essential that clubs maintain an attendance register for all events and have information such as phone numbers for all attendees for contact tracing if necessary.
3. While contact resumes, the need for hygiene and physical distancing does not end.
Victoria is an important example to the rest of the country that a resurgence in cases could happen anytime, anywhere. Teams must remain cautious, and take all reasonable measures as outlined in the Resumption of Play Plan and hygiene requirements listed therein. Any state could easily end up back in a suspension of play by the end of the month, if cases grow out of control again. Off the field of play, physical distancing should be maintained as much as possible.
4. Clubs are strongly recommended to limit competition before Step 4.
Returning to quidditch is exciting. We get it. However, when games turn competitive, people forget to be cautious with contact, and forget to be cautious with hygiene etc, spelling an easy recipe for injuries and other issues. While at level 3B, clubs are strongly encouraged to limit playing fully competitive games in trainings at these early stages, and incorporate this into a gradual return to competitive play. While full contact and training games / scrimmages are technically allowed at Step 3B, clubs should exercise due caution and care into diving into these activities too quickly.
Thank you all for your understanding and patience as we move through these steps. We are excited that South Australia and Western Australia are able to fully return to quidditch and we hope there rest of the country can achieve this in the coming months as well - in the mean time, take care, be cautious, and stop the spread.