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 14^th and games on September 20^th, 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