Community sport back with only 10 taking part

We don’t want sport to be the reason we go backwards in alert levels.

Sport NZ boss Peter Miskimmin

Community sport will be allowed to return when the country moves into Covid-19 alert level 2 tomorrow but only if 10 or fewer people take part.

Sport New Zealand updated its guidelines around community sport to match the Government’s restrictions of a maximum of 10 people for gatherings at home, which will restrict many team sports such as football, rugby and netball.

From tomorrow, sports can train and play with the combined number of players, coaches and/or officials not exceeding 10 and appropriate physical distancing guidelines.

The gatherings restriction will be reviewed on May 25.

“We are encouraging sports and teams to take time to look at how they can operate effectively within the 10 person limit and adhere to public guidelines around hygiene, contract tracing, physical distancing and gatherings,” Sport NZ chief executive Peter Miskimmin said yesterday.

“It’s important everyone is patient, as this will help to keep New Zealanders safe. We don’t want sport to be the reason we go backwards in alert levels.”

Sport NZ advised that for many sports, this is now a “get ready” phase when they will put in place what is needed to start safely.

As training numbers can increase, sports will then enter a “prepare to play” phase.

“We have worked closely with major winter codes around how and when they are best able to get their seasons under way and what has come through clearly from those discussions is the importance of having an initial phase of preparation before play can commence,” said Miskimmin.

“We anticipate it being possible for competitions to commence from around May 30, subject to New Zealand’s continued containment of Covid-19 and the advice of the director-general of health [Ashley Bloomfield]. Some sports may take longer to start competitions depending on their specific circumstances.”

Professional sport will be back at level 2, with New Zealand Rugby and Netball New Zealand announcing competitions set to start next month.

The 10-person restriction does not apply to professional sport, as it is deemed to be a workplace instead of a social gathering.