While Victoria remains at a stage three lockdown, Bowls Australia has updated its advice for other states on how to gradually resume activities following the COVID-19 enforced shutdown.
In a statement yesterday, the sport's governing body acknowledged the states and territories are each at a different stage of their respective battle against coronavirus, and advice needed to change accordingly.
“Bowls Australia continues to follow the national guidelines relating to COVID-19, but recognises that there are differing levels of restrictions being set by the state governments in South Australia, Northern Territory and Western Australia. It is expected that Queensland’s restrictions will be relaxed from May 2,” it said.
“These guidelines . . . will come into effect once the National Principles for elite, community and individual sport/activity are released and any state legislation and restrictions are relaxed (for ACT, NSW, QLD, TAS and VIC).
“In view of that, and given we operate in a federated structure, BA acknowledges the authority of those state and territory associations to follow the advice and decisions of their respective state governments in regard to the use of bowls facilities. As such, the guidelines are effective for SA, NT and WA from today (April 27, 2020).
“To assist that process, BA has prepared a set of guidelines for bowling clubs and bowlers to follow during this transition period.”
The guidelines surround helping clubs resume bowling activity such as practice, roll-ups, social play and smaller club competitions on outdoor greens.
They include providing hand sanitiser at entry points and next to greens, disinfectant spray beside mat and jack boxes, cleaning publicly available club sets thoroughly before and after use, implementing a booking system for rinks, hosting all meetings outdoors and following social distancing guidelines while doing so and a continued ban on barefoot bowls groups.
In terms of actual play, no more than four bowlers should be on a rink, a space of one rink should be kept between all bowling groups and no more than 10 people should be on a green at any one time.
One player should be designated to touch the mat and jack in each group if separate equipment is not being used for each person, while other bowls equipment such as measures, cloths and chalk cannot be shared.
It means once Victoria's restrictions begin to ease, clubs will be able to resume activity so long as they follow the guidelines.
Bowls Victoria chief executive officer Tony Sherwill updated his constituents last week on his organisation's current position and actions.
“At a Victorian level, both the mental and physical health and well-being of the bowls family is our main priority right now, which is challenging given we are unable to play,” Sherwill said.
“As you may be aware, we have had to make the difficult decision to cancel/postpone some of our most significant competitions. We remain fully committed to playing the State Championships, finals of Premier Division Metro Pennant and other key events as soon as we are able.
“We are also planning for various scenarios of when the season will commence, including options for a full season, partially reduced season and substantially reduced season. Our hope is that we can still achieve a full season or as close to as possible.
“The board of Bowls Victoria is meeting on April 30th to discuss various aspects of a BV response to COVID-19. BV have also been in constant contact with VicSport, Sport and Recreation Victoria and VicHealth to discuss how to best assist our clubs in this time of need. While it’s too early to release any details — or even a guess as to whether we will be successful, I am hopeful there will be a good result for all sports.
“Clearly if we start to lose sporting clubs (whatever the code) then the very fabric of Australian society will be negatively impacted . . . so rest assured all sports are doing what they can (and so is government) to assist.
“In terms of clubs, our recommendation is to use this time for planning your season. That’s a bit difficult without knowing a resumption date, but things such as refreshing your website, reviewing constitutions, or even hosting your AGM online are all good actions during this period of restrictions. It was really pleasing to see some clubs moving to an online AGM — something which all clubs can do.
“So for now there is no play, but I sense we are turning the corner and am hopeful that we can resume bowls sooner rather than later. First and foremost, we need to keep well and keep safe. Remember that we’re all in this together and helping out your clubmates is a key to getting through this pandemic.”
8°C