Rule change is blow to indoor sports centre
A DERBY indoor sports centre which has not yet reopened following the Covid-19 lockdown has been dealt another blow as new virus restrictions come into force.
After six months closed, Willows Sports Centre, in the Cathedral Quarter, was preparing to fully reopen next week after thousands of pounds was spent on installing new health and safety measures.
But the Government’s latest restrictions, announced earlier this week, mean adult indoor five-a-side football, cricket and netball in groups of more than six are now prohibited.
Children’s indoor team sports are exempt from the new rules and can continue to go ahead. As a result, the centre is set to initially reopen at some point over the next couple of weeks to cater primarily for youth football, cricket and netball.
But director James Windscheffel explained that this only makes up around 10% of business the venue usually brings in through the peak winter months.
He says he and his two fellow directors were “devastated” when
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the new restrictions on Tuesday.
Mr Windscheffel, 43, who has worked at the centre for 26 years, said: “Sadly, given the Covid crisis, we were forced to close and were one of the first to do so voluntarily on March 16.
“It has been a long six months in the wilderness and in that time the business has been hit very hard.
“We’re still not open and despite our best efforts and intentions to reopen next week, spending thousands on Covid safety, this week’s news has knocked us for six and was devastating.
“The winter is the time when we make our money, so to be told that you can’t fully operate in your busiest time is heartbreaking, because we enjoy what we do.
“Adult team sports is about 70% of our business, and it looks like that has been lost for the winter.
“By the time you lose parties as well, which have been kiboshed by the rule of six, we’ve probably got about 10% of our business left.”
Mr Windscheffel is trying to remain upbeat about the centre’s future, with youth sport set to be key to its offering over the winter months.
He said: “On a positive note, we can still do youth sport, and we’re going to give it a go.
“It is like we’ve got to temporarily re-brand ourselves as an indoor youth sports centre. We’re hoping to get youth indoor cricket going first of all, then football and netball, before potentially opening ourselves up to schools.”
While confident of getting through this difficult period, Mr Windscheffel says the long-term future of the business remains uncertain amid the coronavirus pandemic.
He said: “Willows Sports Centre is an institution in Derby and many, many people will have used our facilities in the past.
“Thousands of local people use our facilities for indoor sports from four-year-olds to 84-year-olds.
“Up to 400 teams can use our facility each week at the height of a winter and we host up to 20,000 kids a year for parties too.
“We know that we have the support of our core loyal customers, but we’re sure not everyone knows how serious a situation it is for us.
“The future of the business is still uncertain. We very sadly had to let six to seven full-time staff go over the summer.
“I’m confident we’ll get through the winter, but it is not a given that Willows Sports Centre will be there next year.”