Message from Pete Ackerley.
I know that some of you may have questions and concerns about travel in and out of areas of England with high numbers of cases of the new variant of Covid-19, and what this may mean for American football activity. This follows recent communications from the UK government. The impacted areas are:
- Bedford Borough Council
- Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council
- Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council
- Burnley Borough Council
- Kirklees Council
- Leicester City Council
- London Borough of Hounslow
- North Tyneside Council
While we can confirm there are no mandatory restrictions on travel in and out these areas and no current changes to permitted American football activity, we are continuing to monitor the situation very closely. We strongly encourage clubs based in these areas to take as many proactive measures as possible to ensure the safety and wellbeing of members and their communities and help ensure the continuation of activity.
These include:
- Closely following our Return to Play guidance, including undertaking regular hand and equipment hygiene. In particular, make sure members aren’t congregating before or after practice sessions, and remain 2m apart from people they don’t live with (unless in a support bubble) at all times unless active on the field.
- Reviewing and updating your activity risk assessment. If you make any changes, this should then be re-uploaded to the Go Membership system. Are you are still following all the protocols and precautions you detailed for your club? Is there anything you could change or update? Do you have owners for all your actions?
- Prompting your members to regularly self-assess themselves for any symptoms of Covid-19 before attending any practices or games, or using pre-screening questionnaires or apps.
- Discouraging spectators if not required for the supervision of a child or vulnerable adult.
- Encouraging the use of rapid lateral flow tests amongst your club members ahead of tournaments and events. This is not mandatory, but is a simple precaution with no additional costs attached and packs of these test kits are available to order for free from the UK government or to collect from a local pharmacy or test site, and can help stop the spread of asymptomatic Covid-19. Remember, about 1 in 3 people with COVID-19 do not have symptoms but can still infect others.
- For flag teams, postponing any plans for friendly games that may involve travel in or out of any of these areas.
In Scotland, clubs should continue to be aware of Protection Level 3 restrictions in place in the Glasgow City Council area, and conscious of increasing case numbers in surrounding areas such as East Renfrewshire.
In the meantime, I would encourage all our members to remain careful and cautious and take advantage of any opportunities offered for testing and vaccination.
Stay safe,
Pete
More information and support
For additional information, please visit www.britishamericanfootball.org/Covid-19
If you have any questions, please contact:
covid-19@britishamericanfootball.org – for general Return to Play, Covid-19 safety and other off-field activity related questions
info@bafca.co.uk – for coaching queries
registrations@britishamericanfootball.org – for questions relating to BAFA team or individual membership
adultflagfootball@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to mixed or women’s adult flag football
sreeni.shaji@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to U11,U14 or U17 flag football
warren.smart@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to adult contact football
arran.harrison@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to women’s adult contact football
bucs@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to university football
stuart.potts-perkins@britishamericanfootball.org – for questions relating to U16/19 contact football