Sport Update 2020
By Michael MacKenzie | Posted: Tuesday May 19, 2020
I know many of our students will be itching to get back on our sporting fields and enjoy the competitive and social elements of sport that we have all missed over the last seven weeks.
However, like many areas recently, how sport looks when we return will look very different.
When students return to school, all after school sport practices, trials and games are required to meet the government’s mass gathering rule of a 10-person maximum. This includes spectators, players, coaches and officials.
Needless to say, this means it is very difficult for team sport to occur at the moment. Community and school sport must follow these guidelines set by Sport NZ, and sport does not come under the Ministry of Education guidelines. That is why I understand there will be confusion as to why students can be in school classes with large groups but cannot train or play sport in large groups yet, but these are the guidelines we need to follow for sport.
Sport at Kavanagh College will adopt a 3-phase return to play schedule. Please note some training's have already started in the gym with my permission and contact tracing and hygiene practices in place.
1) Get Ready!
Between now and the 25th of May we will be preparing to start training again soon. This is assessing if students are still interested in playing sport and preparing sport practices to be ready to follow safe hygiene standards. This includes having contact tracing procedures set to go for all sport trainings.
2) Prepare to play
After the 25th of May (hopefully) we will be preparing to play, and will begin sport practices again for our teams, with students and coaches, following contact tracing procedures. It is likely this last for multiple weeks to allow players to prepare for the season ahead.
3) Return to play
Lastly, I expect in mid-late June, local sporting competitions to begin to restart at the earliest. However, students and spectators are likely going to be required to follow new contact tracing procedures, possibly in the form of an online app and QR code scanner. Many Otago sporting organisations are eager to provide a competition for our students to play in, but they will require some time to get up and running to safely provide for our community. So expect community sport fields, courts and matches to look a little different for players and supporters when we get back to sport.