Hello North Shore Thirty Something Players! As you may have heard the great news through
your team reps, approval has been received from viaSport and BC Soccer to move
to Return to Play – Phase 2!
This is exciting news, but also leaves us with some apprehension
with what this means in the middle of this pandemic.
Your team rep and league executives have been working hard over
the past couple of weeks to formulate a plan to get back to games in as safe a
manner as possible. I’m happy to report
that yesterday we received the majority vote required to approve the league’s
Return to Play – Phase 2 Plan.
We still have some logistics to work out, such as the Over
30 cohorts, game and training schedules, and field assignments. I would like to give you the opportunity,
while we are working through these last few items, to read our Return to Play –
Phase 2 Plan.
Registration should open up in approximately a week to participate
in the league’s Fall/Winter season.
There will also be a requirement to sign up and pay for training blocks
with your cohort. As you will read in
the Plan, the league will be providing coaches for the cohort training. In the past, you may have paid a team fee
that covered practice field costs and coaching.
This year, the league will be arranging this, and you will pay the fee
to the league for practices.
Another important point is that every player MUST sign the
insurance waiver that BC Soccer has provided.
Take the time now to sign it and send it in to our Secretary, Jo-Ann
Aldridge (aldridgejoann@gmail.com). It can be located on our website’s home page,
in the left menu. If you already signed
the waiver during the summer training, you do not need to sign it again.
Our aim is to finalize everything to start practicing the
week of September 14th and games on September 20th,
however, if field assignments have been completed, we will have to push
everything out a week.
You will notice a couple of items in red with our Return to
Play – Phase 2 Plan:
·
Goalie gloves not being shared – we are waiting
for word from viaSport regarding the time required to “air out” goalie gloves
before they can be worn by another player.
Goalie gloves cannot be sanitized as it will break down the material. Therefore, teams that do not have dedicated
goalies do not have to purchase gloves for every potential goalkeeper.
·
Sanitizing game balls – as with the goalie
gloves, viaSport will be providing guidance on how many days game balls need to
“air out” between games. This way teams
do not need to purchase specific cleaning products to sanitize game balls.
Once these items are confirmed, I will let all the teams
know the final information.
It is
important that you read the Plan in detail, as every player will
need to understand what new rules are being put in place, what our protocols
are, and what action you are required to take, should you become ill or test
positive for COVID-19.
If you know anyone who is not part of our registered players
for the 2019/2020 Fall-Winter Season or had registered for our 2020 Spring-Summer
Season that was cancelled, please reach out to them to join us in our Return to
Play.
Please don’t hesitate to email me with any question you may
have, after you’ve read through the Plan.
We want to get back to game play in a safe manner and everyone will play
a part in keeping the league safe and moving forward with the game we all love
to play.
Thanks for your patience while we finalize our Return to
Play – Phase 2 Plan!
Linda Tranter
President
North Shore Thirty Something Women's Soccer League