England Lacrosse Return to Play Guidance Update 27.08.20
England Lacrosse would like to issue an update to our Return to Play (RTP) guidance, including play within local lockdown areas, frequency of participation, match protocols, and indoor lacrosse.
Local Lockdowns
After seeking clarification regarding play within areas under local lockdowns, lacrosse within most of these areas should be permitted to move to Phase 4 of the RTP guidance.
Only if a lockdown restricts the movement or meeting of people, or specifically mentions sport, would the circumstances change from the national picture.
Therefore, those in local restriction areas can progress to Phase 4 – We would like to remind all in the community that participation under Phase 4 guidelines should only take place once all relevant RTP protocols are in place.
Please remember to fill in an Intent to Train form and complete your risk assessment. As a club, make sure you keep all contact details for three weeks, to comply with NHS track and trace.
In the event of a new lockdown scenario, we recommend that clubs check with England Lacrosse [email protected] and we will advise as soon as the Government advice has been presented.
Frequency of Activity
FAQ: “I’ve read the rules on leaving 72 hours between each instance of participating in lacrosse (whether playing, coaching, umpiring), but they don’t work for me. What should I do?”
The guidance set out by England Lacrosse regarding frequency of participation is our best practice recommendation.
We urge all participants to follow it but acknowledge that in some exceptional circumstances this may not be possible.
The key point is that all players, coaches, officials should take every possible step to minimise their contact with other people each week.
Meeting with multiple groups of people significantly magnifies the risk of transferring the virus, and may cause significant disruption should a participant within one of those groups contract the virus.
At a minimum, you should ensure that every group you attend keeps a record of all attendees and contact details so that you and they can comply with NHS Track and Trace regulations. You should maintain social distancing whenever you can, especially when umpiring and coaching.
Protocols for Temperature Control
On arrival at a match or training, all participants should be temperature checked. If their temperature is 37.5˚C or above they should not be allowed to participate in the session and instead be advised to return home and, if their temperature remains high or other symptoms develop, register for a Covid-19 test.
They should not return to lacrosse until they are confident they have no symptoms or have had a negative test.
Participants may contest the validity of the temperature check. If they do so they can either return to their car or sit in a socially-distanced designated area for 5 minutes and then be checked again. If the result is still 37. 5˚C or above they should be sent home as above.
Use of Whistles
It has been identified that using a standard whistle can cause a potential increase in droplet transmission – we would therefore like coaches and officials to consider using electronic whistles. These can be easily accessed and range in price from £8.50- £20 and are highly effective and safe.
If you still use a standard whistle, then please make every effort to distance yourself from others.
Indoor Lacrosse
England Lacrosse has this week sent a request to DCMS for approval to commence indoor lacrosse.
As indoor facilities start to open, we would like to add indoor lacrosse to our guidelines and we now await confirmation that this complies with Government advice.
Please do not resume any form of indoor lacrosse until our request has been approved.
Finally, many thanks to each and every member of our lacrosse community who has helped in following our Return to Play guidance.
As part of our personal and collective responsibility to control the situation, your efforts to make lacrosse as safe as possible continue to allow us all to enjoy taking part in lacrosse again.