Today, British Wheelchair Basketball’s ‘Return to Play’ plans have been given clearance to enter into the revised Stage 1 of our guidance in England.
In response to the new-tiered restrictions in England, the Stage 1 guidance will return in two participation pathways:
- Stage 1A (Tier 1 England): This applies to all participants and clubs located in Tier 1 (England). This inclusive stage of return remains largely unchanged from the pre-November lockdown plans but includes additional measures around encouraging COVID-19 responsible behaviours outside of the sport as well as during activity, and an updated Risk Assessment template for clubs.
- Stage 1B (Tier 2 & 3 England): This applies to all participants and clubs located in Tiers 1 & 2 (England). This is a new pathway for Stage 1, where session attendees (excluding coach) must be disabled as defined by the Equality Act 2010. This also includes the Stage 1A new measures around encouraging COVID-19 responsible behaviours outside of the sport as well as during activity, and an updated Risk Assessment template for clubs.
We believe that our club network is well equipped to adapt to the updated Return to Play plans. We now have over 80 COVID-19 Officers across the UK, and host monthly network meetings for this group.
As an inclusive sport, we have given considerable time and consideration to the decision to adopt the disability exemption for Tiers 2 & 3. We realise that it is disappointing for our non-disabled participants located in the higher tiers that they will not be able to return to court. However, we hope that everyone understands our intention with the new Stage 1B is to support our disabled participants, many of whom have been most impacted by this pandemic, to access activity via the Government’s disability exception for indoor sport.
We have updated our website to include the new Return to Play Guidance and Matrix document, as well as updating the Club Risk Assessment.
Finally, it is hugely important that we all take our responsibilities to respect and adhere to COVID-19 measures seriously both during activity and also whilst we are away from sport.
We would like to remind our members that British Wheelchair Basketball’s Guidance extends to pre-training and post-training protocols, not just on court activity. We also cannot stress enough how important it that our members’ act responsibility away from a court setting, so that we can limit risk when accessing training.
Our Sport’s Code of Conduct was updated in August to include an expectation that all participants will act and respect the health and welfare of others. Any breaches of this expectation are to be reported to membership@britishwheelchairbasketball.co.uk and will be subject to our Disciplinary Process.
Useful Link:
Grassroots Sport Guidance: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-grassroots-sports-guidance-for-safe-provision-including-team-sport-contact-combat-sport-and-organised-sport-events
Please note: This information was correct at the time of publishing (4th December 2020). Please read in conjunction with British Wheelchair Basketball’s Return to Play Guidance and Matrix. Please read this document in conjunction with your home Government’s guidelines.
