2020 Community Rugby League Season Update
Communication to Clubs – The Season Ahead
We write to you today to bring you up to date with current planning for the NSWRL Junior League season. By now you would have heard that all training and trialling activities have been cancelled, and we have moved our competition start dates to early May.
We want to assure you and your members that the major goal is to have our children playing Rugby League as soon it is possible under current circumstances. To do this in an efficient and effective manner, we ask you all to take note of the following communication, that has been put together to provide your Club with guidance to allow a quick transition into the competition season.
The document might also assist Clubs with answering questions from concerned parents.
Clubs are reminded, that until further notice Clubs are NOT permitted to engage in any physical Rugby League related activities, including (but not limited to) training and trial matches.
Competitions
Team Nominations
Team Nominations are still due on the prescribed dates as stipulated by your Junior League Administrator and/or the Conference Competition Manager.
If you are unsure if your Club will have enough registrations to field a team in a particular age group, then please nominate the team irrespective. It is more efficient for Leagues to withdraw teams from a competition, rather than adding a team to a competition at a later date.
We will re-confirm team nomination numbers with all Clubs closer to the designated competition start date.
Team Set-Up
Clubs are encouraged to continue setting up teams as per usual, complying with previously prescribed naming conventions.
Please be aware some District Leagues complete this function on behalf of Club’s.
Competition Set-Up
Providing team details to Administrators will allow us to begin setting Competitions up on the MySideline system prior to season commencement.
This will greatly assist us in getting teams on the field quickly, in the event of further delays due to COVID-19.
Clearances and Permits
NSWRL and Districts will continue to action clearances and permits as they come to hand, and we urge Clubs and players to do the same.
Registrations (Pending Registrations)
We urge Clubs, Coaches and Managers to continue to encourage participants to register. Once we are able to re-commence competitions, we want all participants to be ready and registered to train and play.
As a reminder, it would be great if Clubs could continue to check all pending registrations, and ensure appropriate photo and identifications are present, with dates of birth and spelling of names matching the participants record.
Suspensions
Suspensions from the 2019 season that have not been served, or from 2020 Trial Matches that have been conducted will remain in place. Participants and Clubs are encouraged to check their Notice of Outcomes as to the stipulated matches to serve, as this will be applied from when competitions resume. 100 points equals one competition match.
Competition Contingency Plans
The NRL and NSWRL are constantly monitoring the situation with COVID-19. We want to see children on the football field in 2020 as much as you do. Once we can confirm any start date, we will require a two (2) week period of training and trials prior to commencement of any competition. This period will assist everyone with finalising teams and numbers, and with final competition details.
We also have plans drawn up to commence competitions at any point of the Winter season, if this becomes necessary.
Volunteer Education
NSWRL Delivered Evenings
Any scheduled NSWRL delivered information evenings, specifically Club Information Nights and Ground Manager Trainings will be rescheduled to a date closer to competition re-commencement.
NRL Courses
Coach Education
The NRL will postpone delivery of the face to face workshop components of Community Rugby League education courses, including Coach and Referee courses effective immediately. All online components will remain available and we encourage you to take this time to complete these aspects of the course/s relevant to you.
Sports Trainer
Courses are delivered by an external provider in Sports Medicine Australia (SMA). SMA have advised they will pause all face to face service delivery as of 19 March 2020.
Volunteer Compliance
Please continue to encourage your coaches, managers and trainers to register online, and continue to allocate them to their respective teams.
We strongly encourage Clubs to continue to work with their Club Support Officers in the interim to ensure their officials are appropriately accredited prior to season start.
Blue Shield
Club Support Officers (CSOs) will be available to assist Clubs in completing modules of the NSWRL Blue Shield Program. We strongly encourage all Clubs to use this time to consider the completion of the Blue Shield program.
Functions and/or Events
Some Clubs may be planning functions or events for some point during the year. It is worth considering the current regulations communicated by Government Health Authorities. These may impact on your Club’s ability to deliver a function or event.
Indoor gatherings
An indoor gathering takes place within a single enclosed area (i.e. a single room or area). Essential activities such as health care settings, pharmacies, food shopping, schools, workplaces and public transport are not included in this restriction. However, social distancing and good hygiene practices should be applied in these settings.
All non-essential indoor gatherings of less than 100 people (including staff) such as cinemas, theatres, restaurants/cafes, pubs, Clubs, weddings and funerals should apply social distancing and hygiene practices. This includes:
• being able to maintain a distance of 1.5 metres between people
• providing hand hygiene products and suitable rubbish bins, with frequent cleaning and waste disposal.
This might mean changes are needed to seating or capacity. For example, cinemas and theatres will need to decrease density of patrons, which could include alternate seating, staggered seating and alternatives, except for family or household groups who may be seated together.
Source: https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-public-gatherings-and-visits-to-vulnerable-groups#limits-on-organised-gatherings
Active Kids Vouchers
Clubs may be fielding enquiries regarding refunds of registration fees.
Active Kids Vouchers
• The Active Kids terms and conditions state vouchers are not exchangeable or redeemable for cash.
• As Active Kids providers have varied cancellation and postponement terms and conditions (T&Cs), we encourage you to proactively communicate your T&Cs to your members.
Parents can access their second Active Kids voucher from 1 July, 2020.
Finally, we wish to take this opportunity to simply say THANK YOU to all our wonderful Rugby League volunteers. We know what an amazing job you do under, at times, difficult circumstances. Stay calm, stay safe and stay well.
