Last updated: 19 March 2020
ANZA Soccer Saturday Games Protocols
We rely on the ANZA Soccer community to comply with these requirements in good faith, for the protection of all our members and the wider community in this extraordinary situation.
BEFORE COMING TO THE PITCHES
- Parents should decide whether their children will join Saturday sessions. Parents should understand that there will be no repercussions for keeping children home (no loss of game time in future games, etc.). ANZA Soccer encourages you to do what you think is best for your family and expects others to respect your decisions.
- Parents who decide not to attend and have a volunteer role as AGC, team manager, or coach are asked to arrange an alternate and update the team accordingly.
- For age groups running a league/Cup, each AGC will decide whether games will run as league/Cup games (default) or friendlies. No team will be penalised for low numbers. If league/Cup games are played, the AGC may drop minimum required numbers as follows:
- 11-aside games can play down to 7-aside on a half pitch
- 9-aside games can play down to 5-aside on a smaller pitch.
- If some teams have enough to play under these rules but others don’t, the AGC will decide how to proceed. However, no team will forfeit due to low numbers.
- Children and adults must take temperatures and assess health before leaving home. If anyone’s temperature is above 37.5 celsius, the family should STAY HOME. If ANY MEMBER of the household (children, parents, helpers, visitors) has any sign of cold/flu symptoms, the family should STAY HOME.
- If any member of the household has travelled to ANY OTHER COUNTRY within the last 14 days, or is on leave-of-absence from work or school, the family must STAY HOME. Please calculate accordingly: household member’s arrival date is day 1 and stay-home period includes 14th day. For example, for Saturday March 21 games, if any household member arrived back in Singapore on or after March 8, the family must stay home.
- Please note that due to our specific circumstances as a recreational youth sports organization and our overall priority of protecting our players as much as possible, our protocol differs from that of the MOH in three important ways:
- MOH Stay-Home Notices (SHNs) only kick in for those arriving after a stated date/time; however our policy applies retroactively, meaning it also applies to those who have arrived before such date/time. Therefore “within the last 14 days” does refer to anyone arriving within that time, regardless of when the MOH SHNs start to apply.
- MOH has stated they will be announcing different measures for Singaporeans and Malaysians who arrived from Malaysia by land/sea border, whereas our policy also applies as stated to those who arrived from Malaysia by land/sea within the last 14 days.
- MOH SHNs do not apply to family members of a traveller, whereas our policy also applies to anyone physically living in the same household as someone who has travelled in the last 14 days to any of the listed countries.
- Any family employing a domestic worker returning to Singapore and serving the SHN in their home should also STAY HOME.
- For spectators: Our target continues to be at most one parent attending per child, and even fewer spectators if possible. To ensure that we continue to comply with the MOH advisory to keep “the scale of events to below 250 participants where possible,” we ask that parents not accompany their child when possible. Parent 2, grandparents, siblings, and helpers should stay home please. When possible, we encourage parents to work together so that one parent may act as the “on-site responsible adult” for several players.
ONCE AT THE PITCHES
- Everyone attending should go directly on arrival to the Temperature Screening Station beside Pitches 2 (where First Aid is). Players will be temp-checked and given a stamp. First Aid will be present for this task but may appreciate the help of parent volunteers. Coaches and adult spectators will also be temp-checked and given a stamp. If anyone has a temperature above 37.5 celsius, the person and any family members must leave the pitches immediately.
- No player may start warmup until their coach has checked that they have a stamp. No player may play in the game until the referee has checked that they have a stamp.
- If any player displays symptoms of cold / flu during the session, they will be sent home.
- There will be no sharing of water bottles, so make sure your child brings their own water bottle.
- There will be no shared or team snacks, but your child may bring a personal snack if needed.
- Everyone should avoid unnecessary contact, including handshakes, hugs, high-fives, fist-bumps, etc., and including at the end of games and sessions.
- Before, during and after the game, spectators should stay in areas away from the players and avoid unnecessary interaction with players. Coaches should keep players separate from spectators during team talk, water breaks, half-time talk and post-match talk. If children need to spend time with their parent, make sure they do so away from the rest of the team and the rest of the parents. Spectators should do their best to spread out and keep distance between themselves and others. When teams gather in the undercover areas, spectators should move away to give them space.
- Parents and players are asked to leave shortly after the game. Matches have to finish within the allocated time slot and post-match team talks should be kept brief. This minimises overlap with the next (age) group.
- A record will be kept of all players and supporters attending each game. Please ensure the team manager (or other designated parent) has your attending child listed as ‘present’ through the regular channel of team communication (WhatsApp or other methods). Also include in the same list anyone attending the session with the child. Please do update for last-minute drop-outs / walk-ins, even after the session. Team managers should forward complete/final lists to their AGC after each session.
- Everyone is encouraged to wash hands frequently (especially before and after practice) and/or use (BYO) hand sanitiser. Advise your children to wash their hands at the changing room facilities at The Cage upon arrival and departure.
- Parents, please help! ANZA Soccer relies on its volunteers!
- If you are available to help with temperature screening at your child’s session, please let your AGC know.
- Don’t hesitate to help our members remember these important points so our programmes can continue!
Extra information:
- The Cage is taking extra precautions by increasing cleaning of premises and facilities.
- The Cage is committed to maintaining availability of hand sanitisers
- ANZA Soccer’s decisions and protocol policies will continue to be reviewed and amended based on MOH updates and relevant developments.