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Message from Pete Ackerley.

As of today, most legal Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted in England.

To continue to simplify our approach to managing the risk of Covid-19 in British American football we have created an updated single set of guidance for England that applies to both contact and flag formats.

While this is another positive move back towards normality, please remember we are still in the third wave of this pandemic in the UK and it is still possible to catch and spread Covid-19. There may also be many people in our sport and amongst our wider communities and families who are still especially vulnerable to the virus and may be feeling anxious.

It is also important to consider that others may wish to take a more cautious approach as things open up and we should all be considerate of this.

As restrictions are lifted, we must all continue to use caution and good judgement to manage risk. All of us can play our part by exercising common sense and there are things we can do to protect ourselves and others around us while participating in American football. This includes continuing to follow our recommended guidance so everyone can enjoy our sport as safely as possible.

Scotland
Today also sees Scotland move to Protection Level 0. This is another big step forward in easing restrictions and allows for an increased activity bubble of up to 500 participants – an increase from the 50 participants allowed in the majority of areas where our clubs are.

This means larger tournaments and adult contact games are now able to go ahead in these locations. Our existing guidance for flag football in Scotland and contact football in Scotland contains information on what’s permitted in Level 0 and allows for the immediate move to greater participant numbers.

Please remember social distancing requirements remain in place both indoors and outdoors in Scotland – but have reduced to 1m. Face covering continue to be required in indoor public spaces.

Most Covid rules in Scotland – but not all – are set to be lifted from 7 August. We’ll update our guidance again nearer to the time once the changes are clarified.

Wales

From Saturday 17 July legal restrictions on the number of people who can gather outdoors were removed. Formal social distancing rules outdoors also came to an end so people no longer have to stay two metres apart outside

To continue to simplify our approach to managing the risk of Covid-19 in British American football we have also created an updated single set of guidance for Wales that applies to both contact and flag formats.

Please remember social distancing requirements remain in place indoors in Wales, and face coverings continue to be required in indoor public spaces.

Most Covid rules in Wales – but not all – are set to be lifted from 7 August. We’ll update our guidance again nearer to the time once the changes are clarified.

Transfer and debtors list deadlines
As this is a non-competitive season, we have decided that our transfer window will not close this year. This means members may still move between clubs until the next planned closure of the transfer window in July 2022. Members are reminded they may only transfer twice per season. Similarly, we are extending the deadline for clubs to submit their debtors list into November this year to reflect the later finish of the season. More information and a template for submitting debtors lists will be made available to club administrators nearer the time.

In the meantime, please stay safe, remain cautious and continue to take advantage of any opportunities offered for testing in your local area or vaccination if you’ve not already done so.

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
mark.snow@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to adult contact football
bucs@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to university football