Message from Pete Ackerley.
Firstly, I’d like to wish everyone a very happy new year. I hope you had a peaceful and relaxing festive break.
With many of our clubs now starting to return to practice and plan for the season ahead, I know there are concerns about the ongoing spike of Covid-19 cases and what it means for American football activity.
Thankfully no additional restrictions have been put in place that impact on outdoor amateur sport. While this is good news, I once again urge you all to continue to be extra cautious when undertaking any activity in what’s now become our new normal.
Please make sure you follow our Covid-19 guidance at all times. This has now been updated to reflect restrictions on indoor adult contact sport and spectator numbers in Scotland, on spectator numbers in Wales and to update face covering guidance for England.
As a reminder, the key points for all three nations are:
- Clubs should make sure they have a designated Club Covid-19 officer / team lead in place for any activity you undertake and regularly review their risk assessment and Covid-19 protocols
- Everyone should take personal responsibility to regularly self-assess for Covid-19 symptoms and not attend any activity if experiencing symptoms or if asked to self-isolate for any reason
- Continue to maintain strong hand and equipment hygiene and cover your mouth if you cough or sneeze
- Face coverings are mandatory in most indoor public settings including changing rooms, the indoor areas of most venues and indoor pitches if you’re a non-active participant such as a coach. You must also wear a face covering on any team buses.
- Although not legally required, we strongly recommend you should maintain social distancing wherever possible when participating in American football activity, in line with UK government guidance to limit the close contact you have with those you do not usually live with
- Regularly use free lateral flow tests before any team activity, shared team bus travel or club social events. These are a simple, free and easy to use precaution. Packs of 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.
- Follow our adjusted Covid-19 rules for games
- University teams should also closely follow any additional guidance from their institution
The venues you use may also opt to put additional restrictions and guidance in place so please work closely with them to understand what that means for you and your club.
Please remember – we can all continue to play our part in protecting our sport and each other. This means taking personal responsibility to get vaccinated, test regularly and closely follow government, BAFA and venue guidance.
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 Covid-19 safety and other off-field activity related questions
info@bafca.co.uk – for coaching specific queries
mark.snow@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to contact football
kyle.taylor@britishamericanfootball.org – for queries relating to flag football
bucs@britishamericanfootball.org – for questions relating to university football
registrations@britishamericanfootball.org – for questions relating to BAFA team or individual membership
