Resumption of Play Plan for Covid-19

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Summary:

  • The Quidditch Australia Resumption of Play Plan (QARPP) is based off a combination of the Federal Government’s 3 Step Plan and the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport, remodelled for quidditch

  • The QARPP outlines several steps in gradually expanding quidditch activities

  • At Step 1A:

    • Events (trainings) must have < 10 people and play is strictly non-contact

    • There should be no shared equipment, such as brooms, balls, bibs, etc.

    • Trainings must be held outdoors

    • Players should only attend trainings and events run by one club and avoid intercity travel

  • At Step 1B:

    • Balls can be used in a shared manner, otherwise identical to Step 1A

  • At Step 2:

    • Events can have up to 20 people total and can be indoors or outdoors

    • Players may attend trainings of up to two clubs

  • At Step 3:

    • Events can have up to 100 people total, and can have people from multiple clubs

    • Equipment sharing should still be minimised and social distancing maintained – i.e. play is strictly non-contact still  

  • At Step 3B:

    • Trainings may start to incorporate contact drills and tackling etc. in scrimmages and other games. No competitive games or tournaments allowed yet.

  • At All Steps:

    • Full hygiene measures as per previously released requirements, as well as physical distancing measures, must be maintained

    • All food should be BYO, there should be no shared or communal food

    • Organisers must keep a record of everyone who attends the event

    • Anyone who has had COVID-19 can only return to play with a doctor’s certificate (sent to Quidditch Australia) 

    • Anyone who acquires COVID-19 must inform health authorities and should contact Quidditch Australia directly as well

    • Anyone who exhibits cold or flu symptoms, has been unwell, or has had close contact with a known or suspected case in the last 14 days should not play.

  • Return to play should be gradual for all players regardless of COVID-19 status

  • Steps will be applied across the country in a state-wise manner

  • Quidditch Australia and the relevant State Governing Bodies will decide together when to progress through Steps, taking the level of government plan being used as a cue to progress the QARPP. Any regression in steps will be applied automatically to the QARPP step for a given state.

QARPP Steps Outline:

These steps for the QARPP, designed specifically for quidditch, have been designed to correspond to the Steps 1-3 of the Federal Government plan, incorporating elements of the AIS Framework (Specifically, differentiating between levels A and B of the AIS Framework within Step 1 of the Federal Government Framework).

QARPP v2.PNG

*Includes all present participants, playing and non-playing such as spectators, coaches, organisers, etc.

Unlisted in the table is a further Step 4, with unrestricted event sizes, full contact training and games permitted, and general relaxing of restrictions, though hygiene practices will still be emphasised and equipment sharing is to be minimised. At Step 4, it will become appropriate to resume larger scale tournaments, as well as necessarily contact based activities such as snitching/seeking, subject to Federal and State Government restrictions at the time.

Notes on Steps & Additional Measures:

 

Personal and Equipment Hygiene Practices

At all steps, it is critical that all participants continue to practise good hygiene. Hygiene requirements for sanctioned events as per the Quidditch Australia Pandemic Response Plan released earlier in March this year remain in place, as well as some new additions. These are outlined below:

  • Sharing of equipment should be avoided. This includes but is not limited to

    • Brooms

      • Players should use their own brooms for the duration of a training session

    • Balls

      • At Step 1A, players should not conduct training that involves balls being passed between / thrown at players at all. Players can use balls for solo practise e.g. for taking shots on hoops or throwing at a non-human target, but balls should be sanitised before another player uses them

      • From Step 1B onwards, players can use balls in training for passing, throwing at human targets, etc., however, balls should continue to be sanitised regularly throughout training

    • Bibs

      • Players should use the same bib throughout a training and all bibs should be washed between trainings. Alternatively, arrange for players to wear dark and light jerseys or similar, to avoid bibs all together. Whistles

    • Headbands

    • Water Bottles

    • Towels

    • Other personal items such as jerseys, hoodies, and other clothing

  • Regular Hand Hygiene

    • Club or event organisers must arrange for hand sanitiser or similar (assuming there are no easily accessible hand washing facilities in the immediate area of training) to be available at trainings and events, and this should regularly be used by all participants

    • This is most critical from step 1B when regular ball handling becomes allowed.

    • Avoid touching your face and/or mouthguard, and if necessary, wash hands before and after doing so.

    • Avoid shaking hands with other players

    • Avoid spitting on gloves to make them sticky 

    • Avoid breathing on hands to keep them warm

  • Sneezing and coughing

    • Players should cover up sneezes and coughs by raising their jerseys/t-shirts/tops over their mouth and nose and sneezing or coughing under their clothing.

    • This is suggested to avoid players sneezing into their hands or arms, which are used for catching balls, wrapping other players, etc.

    • If a player finds they are sneezing or coughing, or otherwise sick, prior to an event they should not attend and stay home

 

Organiser-Specific Requirements:

In order for events to be sanctioned while under the pandemic, as per the original pandemic response plan, there are a series of requirements set out for organisers – be this clubs running trainings, or clubs/states running tournaments. Organisers are defined as the organisation who submits the event sanctioning application. These are outlined below with some new additions in bold:

  • Game equipment (including brooms, hoops, and especially balls) should be sanitised between games (for example, using 70% alcohol solution or soapy water). Further information on sanitation can be found in the resources supplied at the end of the document.

  • Ensure bathrooms are available for all players at the event, and ensure the bathrooms are well stocked with soap. Alternatively, easy access to hand sanitiser should be made available for participants.

  • Players are responsible for monitoring their own health, and anyone who is feeling ill and especially displaying symptoms of COVID-19 should be encouraged to refrain from playing further. Symptoms can include: fever, a cough, sore throat, tiredness or shortness of breath. Please see further resources and information below.

  • All food at events is to be BYO – there should be no shared or communal food, snacks, or drinks.

  • Ensure all players are aware of the above guidelines for individuals, and that as much as possible, they are adhered to.

  • Organisers must make a record of all people who attended the event and keep this record for at least 28 days. This includes playing and non-playing attendees. Organisers are also expected to have contact details for all attendees.

 

Additional Restrictions at Various Steps:

 

Location & Physical Distancing

Step 1 mandates that events can only occur outdoors. This is in accordance with health advice that risk of transmission is greater indoors. Indoor trainings are only permitted from Step 2 onwards.

At all points, indoors and outdoors, in steps 1-3, physical distancing must be maintained and the 4 square metre rule abided by.

Restrictions may be easing but the need for physical distancing is not.

While under normal circumstances, it may be difficult to perform drills and games while maintaining physical distancing, it is the responsibility of teams throughout Steps 1-3 to ensure that they are training in a safe and physically distant manner.

Note: While contact training is permitted to resume at Step 3B, physical distancing should be maintained wherever else possible, at all times, and the 4 square meter rule continues to apply when assessing space requirements.

Travel

During Step 1, players should avoid intercity travel for the purpose of trainings – for example, between Newcastle and Sydney, Bendigo and Melbourne, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane, etc.

During Step 2, players may travel more freely within their own state, but interstate travel is restricted until Step 3, and until State Government restrictions ease on travel.

These restrictions are to be in accordance with Federal Government guidelines but must also further comply with State Government restrictions as they develop.

 

Training Attendance

During Step 1, players should only attend trainings of one club. This is to minimise the chance of the virus spreading between clubs in the event of an outbreak. This is not to say that a player must only train with the club they are signed up with but must pick a convenient club for them to train with and only that club for the duration of Step 1. During Step 2, this ‘training bubble’ is extended to include a second club.

Event organisers at all steps must record attendance at all trainings and events. This is to assist in contact tracing, in the event of an outbreak. In line with AIS frameworks, Quidditch Australia encourages players to download the COVIDSafe tracking app from the Australian Government, but understands that not all players may be comfortable or willing to do this, so the mandatory attendance record keeping is being instituted as an alternative. Records must be stored for at least 28 days.

 

Infection Reporting

Any member who, in the last 14 days, has felt unwell, or has had close contact with a known or suspected case of COVID-19 should not return to playing.

Any member who, in the last 14 days, has exhibited any cold or flu symptoms, especially but not limited to a cough, sore throat, fever, or shortness of breath, should not return to playing without receiving a negative test or until they have been symptomless for 14 days.

Any member who exhibits any of these symptoms is strongly encouraged to undergo testing for COVID-19.

Any member who has COVID-19 must, by law, report this to local health authorities. Quidditch Australia also asks, as per AIS recommendations, that all cases are reported directly to us as well, so that we can take immediate action to protect other members of the quidditch and broader community and prevent any further spread of the virus.

The best contact for this is admin@quidditchaustralia.org

 

Gradual Return to Play

Any member who has had COVID-19 can only return to playing with signed approval from a doctor, sent to Quidditch Australia. This is to not only mitigate risk of transmission to other players but also the mitigate risk of harm to the player themselves. Medium and long term impacts of the virus are not well understood at this stage, but given the virus’ impact on the lungs, heart, and other organs, it is likely that COVID-19 will have an adverse effect on ability to play sport safely. Care should be taken in easing into a return to sport.

Furthermore, anyone returning to sport and exercise after a period of social isolation and irregular exercise will likely be at an increased risk of injury. As per AIS frameworks, clubs and individuals should take care to slowly ease back into playing and grading intensity levels throughout trainings to mitigate injury risk for all players, regardless of the virus.

For this reason, as well as for reasons of mitigating the spread of the virus, clubs should spread out trainings during the week (1-2 per week), giving ample time in between trainings for recovery.

Minimise Social Interaction & Loitering

While Step 1 restrictions allow physically distanced gatherings of up to 10 people, as per Government and AIS frameworks, the policy of “Get in, train, and get out” is suggested. Social hang outs before or after trainings should be avoided, especially indoors.

 

Food and Catering

Steps 1-2 must not have any food supplied by organisers, all food must by BYO and not shared. There should especially not be communal snacks, foods, etc. This is to be avoided at Step 3 as well, though further precautions on food safety and hygiene are TBA.

Timeline and Framework for Implementing Steps

Decision-Making Framework

The decision for quidditch to move to each next step in the QARPP will be made by consensus between Quidditch Australia and the particular State Governing Body (VQA, WAQA, QNSW, QAQ, SAQA) in question, using directives of the local State Government as a guide – the exception here is the distinction between Step 1A and 1B, which will be entirely on Quidditch Australia and State Governing Body discretion.

The step plan has been designed to correspond to the Federal Government roadmap / three step plans for a COVIDSafe Australia. This means that as these steps and plans are implemented by different State Governments, Quidditch Australia can follow the guidelines of each state as to what step of the plan that state should be following.

The decision to move from Step 1A to 1B will be made based on whether that state has experienced significant resurgences in community transmission in the two weeks following the state easing restrictions to Step 1, and the move will not be made for at least two weeks after enacting Step 1A.

The step plan will be, thus, implemented on a state by state basis. States will only move to the next step of the plan when or after the State Government eases restrictions and progresses to the next step of the Federal Government 3-step plan. Progression between RPP Steps will not automatically occur when a State Government progresses, but only when QA and the State Governing Body agree (and they may choose to maintain restrictions if they do not believe it is safe to progress). If a State Government regresses (i.e. decides to increase restrictions again), the state’s QARPP Step will immediately and automatically regress to align with the State Government, to ensure we remain within the law.

Any change in QA’s RPP Step for a state will be publicised through the Quidditch Australia website (www.quidditchaustralia.org/covid-19), where a map of states according to what step they are at will be continuously updated. Any changes to a state’s RPP Step will also be notified to clubs via email and likely via Facebook as well. 

State Timeline

Based on current (17/5/20) information, the State Governments have released the following plans for broad roll out of easing of restrictions. These dates are specifically those released by the State Governments as part of their plans, and do not represent a precise plan for movement through the QARPP Steps, and are subject to change:

States.PNG

(The Northern Territory and Tasmania have not been included as there are no known quidditch teams in those states/territories)

At this point in time, only the QLD Government has chosen to try and predict a full timeline, with four-week periods at each step before moving to the next. Most states such as NSW, Victoria, and the ACT have indicated that restrictions will ease to step 1 at a particular date but offer no promises further than that.

It is entirely likely that different states will have vastly different timelines for progressing through the different steps, and that in some cases progress will have to be reversed, as states experience flare ups that warrant moving back from Step 2 to Step 1, which will force us to react similarly.

Given this, assuming 4 weeks per step, we expect that it will be at least August before a return to Step 4 involving full contact trainings, games, organised competitions, etc., and this is barring any major flare ups in cases and/or regression in steps.

Quidditch Australia will be forthcoming with more information and will be seeking feedback on major events such as State Shield and QUAFL, and is still undergoing discussions around the Dropbears. In the mean time, we remain committed to our timelines outlined here.

What was the QARPP based on?

The following Quidditch Australia Resumption of Play Plan (QARPP) was formulated based on:

The AIS Framework for rebooting sport provides detailed information about the impact of COVID-19 on community sport and athletes, the individual health risks and risks of transmission associated, public health risk, and a stage plan for gradually resuming sport, in line with the federal government’s three step plan, that can be implemented at different paces as appropriate to local conditions.

The framework also provides guidance on specific sports for activities that are appropriate at different stages or levels. We have decided to base our plan off advice for similar high intensity, ball handling, contact sports, such as rugby, AFL, American Football, basketball, etc.

The AIS frameworks are based on best current evidence, government guidelines, advice from sport and exercise medicine specialists, as well as public health and infectious disease experts, and we believe this is the best advice for Quidditch Australia to follow. It is important to note that these guidelines outline minimum standards for sporting codes.

With this in mind, this resumption of play plan and associated policies are formulated to be ‘on the safe side’ with margins for error built in, especially given that international experiences have shown that resurgences in the virus once it has been controlled are easy and common once restrictions relax.

Ultimately, while the resumption of sport bears many benefits to the physical and mental health of individuals and the community, it cannot come at the cost of risk to public health.

Additional Resources:

Health.gov.au - Australian Federal Government live updates and information including fact sheets, government recommendations, policies, action plans, etc. Especially useful include:

Australian Institute of Sport - Advice on COVID-19 and Sporting Activity (see especially under FAQs, what specific challenges sports need to consider.