Please see below the following updates regarding announcements made recently by the Victorian Government. While the announcements were significant yesterday, the current information is that we are still only allowed restricted basketball activities as per the Outdoor Training Guidelines.

Updates to Victorian COVID-19 Restrictions and Stage 3 Changes 

The Victorian Government has made the following changes impacting basketball and the return to community sport regarding coronavirus (COVID-19).

From 11:59pm on 31 May the following changes will come into effect: 

• Non-contact outdoor sporting activities (e.g. basketball training sessions) will increase to 20 people plus the instructor (previously 10 people plus the instructor) as per the previously distributed Outdoor Training Guidelines

From 11:59pm on 21 June – and in line with the most up-to-date advice of the Chief Health Officer – the following changes will be made: 

• Indoor sports centres and physical recreation venues, including gyms, to open with up to 20 people per single undivided indoor space and up to 10 people per group/activity at any one time.

We are currently working through what these changes will mean for basketball with Sport and Recreation Victoria, while working through our Return to Sport Guidelines and will have further updates on these changed conditions as soon as available.

You can read the full update from the Victorian Government here.

Community Sport Sector Short-term Survival Package 

The Victorian Government announced a $40 million Community Sport Sector Short-term Survival Package to provide grants to support the operational viability of community sport and active recreation organisations impacted by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

This initiative is part of the Victorian Government’s new Experience Economy Survival Package providing urgent support to help a range of key organisations, associations and clubs ride out the economic impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and help them reboot, rebound and recover.

The Community Sport Sector Short-term Survival Package includes $40 million for community sport organisations in four categories: 

• Grants of up to $350,000 available for large state sporting associations;
• Grants of up to $200,000 available to smaller state sporting associations; regional sports assemblies, academies and other state sport and recreational bodies;
• Grants of up to $15,000 are available for associations and leagues; and
• Grants of $1,000 are available for individual clubs.

We are dissecting the eligibility criteria and specifics of the program to help associations and clubs that are eligible to get assistance as soon as possible.

For specific details on the program, including the objectives of the fund, the number of applications that can be submitted under each stream, the grant amounts available and eligibility of applications please refer to the guidelines, which are available via the Sport and Recreation Victoria website

We aim to hold an online meeting with members in the next week when we have further clarification for our return to sport and so we can discuss the impacts, timeline and strategy. Details to be provided shortly.

Basketball Victoria will continue to work with government and advocate on behalf of basketball to ensure our sport is able to return in a safe, manageable and prompt fashion.

Return to Sport – COVID-19 Update
Tuesday 12 May

Yesterday, the Victorian Government made announcements relating to the easing of restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this included allowing people to participate in outdoor activities or train in community sport in groups of up to 10 people.

Basketball Victoria supports this approach, as it recognises that sport and exercise play a critical role in the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of Victorians, but importantly this must be balanced with the risk of transmitting coronavirus.

As such, the State Government has developed the following principles to guide the lifting of restrictions around sport and exercise.

Sport and exercise can resume if:

• you keep your distance while performing the activity (at least 1.5 metres apart),
• you are not doing your activities indoors and they are not competitive (team vs team); and
• you can do them with a maximum of 10 people (plus coach / support person).

For the sake of clarity, the Government (DHHS) stipulates that “you can participate in training for all sports, but it must be non-contact, with only 10 people participating at any one time in addition to those people running the training (e.g. coach, manager)”. Further details can be found at DHHS here.

While this provides an opportunity for many of us to get back into participating in basketball outside of our home environment, Basketball Victoria wants to emphasise that how we all collectively act in the coming weeks will directly affect the health of our community and our sports ability to return to more regular indoor activity in the near future.

We are being provided an opportunity to enjoy a level of sport and exercise outdoors in the short term, but we must not compromise safety, nor the reputation of the sport at this vitally important time.

Purpose

The purpose of any outdoor, non-compulsory training session should be:

• Player Health & Wellbeing – to get participants interacting/socialising with their friends, following social distancing rules
• Fitness & Conditioning – start with a slow, modified reintroduction to fitness and conditioning (eg 1 vs 0 drills, shooting etc) to be ready for any formal indoor activity when it is safe to do so.

Considerations

We suggest that all clubs, associations and participant groups consider the following:

• Please use common sense and be considerate to members of the public
• (If you’re a club or association) – do you have the ability to properly monitor organised outdoor trainings?
• Formalised trainings should not be compulsory
• Follow hygiene and social distancing rules
• If you are feeling unwell, do not attend
• No physical contact:
  • No High-5s, handshakes, screens, boxing out, bumping, one on one play etc

Insurance

Please be mindful of the below before conducting outdoor activities:

• Only Basketball Victoria and Association “sanctioned” training or competition activities are covered by Basketball Victoria’s insurance policy
• Only registered participants are covered for personal accident insurance
• Activities must be in line with and adhere to government laws, rules and regulations.

Activities that fail to comply with these requirements may not be covered by insurance under this policy – eg if there are 11 people training, or people are proven to not be social distancing or sanitising their hands etc.

For those wishing to participate outdoors we suggest you refer to Basketball Victoria’s Outdoor Training Guidelines that have been developed in line with Government restrictions and the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport.

Should you choose to participate outdoors, have fun, but please do so in a safe and respectful manner.

The next review date for the easing of further restrictions is in line with the Victorian Government’s State of Emergency – Sunday 31 May.

Please visit the Basketball Victoria website – www.basketballvictoria.com.au/covid-19/ – for up to date information.

COVID-19 Updates

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As of May 8, 2020

Return to Sport

You may have seen the Federal Government announcement last Friday evening (01/05/20) in regard to the planning for a staged return to community sport.

Included in the National Cabinet update was:

An agreement to bring forward the review of the first phase of removing baseline restrictions on Friday, 8 May 2020.
The consideration and endorsement of the ‘National Principles for the Resumption of Sport and Recreation Activities’.
A ‘Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment’ was also developed by the AIS.
Please note: States and Territories are responsible for sport and recreation resumption decisions, both at the professional and community level and will determine progression through the phases, taking account of local epidemiology, risk mitigation strategies and public health capability.

Return to Sport Guidelines

We have developed Return to Sport Guidelines for basketball in Victoria that consider the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport; and acknowledges the Federal Governments principles for the resumption of sport and recreation. The document refers to risk management strategies to enable a return to basketball at various levels of restriction including, the flow of traffic in and out of venues, time restrictions, compulsory cleaning, sanitisation and restrictions on players, officials and parents per court.

Basketball Victoria strongly believes that indoor sport should be reactivated at the same time as outdoor sports, and has proactively developed these detailed guidelines to demonstrate to government that our sport has the ability to provide a safe and controlled environment for the return to participation. However, we need to acknowledge that these guidelines are still in draft form, and will ultimately be guided by the directions from the Victorian Government. Basketball Victoria is providing members these draft guidelines now, to inform you how we envisage the sport may be reactivated and the types of steps that we may all need to take to ensure that we return in a safe and sustainably healthy manner.

We wish to emphasise that these are not for implementing at this stage. We will communicate to all members as soon as we have further details from the Victorian Government on how community sport can be activated and we will amend our draft guidelines as necessary to ensure that our members have the most up to date and accurate guidelines for reactivation.

It is highly likely that there will be a gradual return to sport, with systematic staged lifting of restrictions only when the state government has a level of confidence to do so. This will mean that we will need to show flexibility in how we operate, understanding that this is a different time for sport, and patience for everyone involved in all areas trying to make this work. We will need to ensure that we comply with guidelines, and not take actions that can risk the restrictions being lifted. The basketball community has shown great strength and understanding during this unprecedented time for our sport, and we’re confident this will continue through the recovery that lies ahead.

Note: The guidelines do not cover the actions for associations to take if there is a new or positive case of COVID-19, we have been advised that government is working on a set of guidelines for the business community which will be adapted for sports, but will need to be adopted regardless.

Should any members have any questions arising from these draft guidelines we encourage you to contact either Dean Anglin, Mark Hubbard or David Huxtable at Basketball Victoria.

As new information is made available, we will provide further updates in the following few days.

Basketball Competitions, Programs, Leagues and Events

Domestic / Social Basketball

Due to stage 3 restrictions and the extension of the State of Emergency (until May 11) by the Victorian Government, the Autumn and Winter 2020 domestic basketball seasons are suspended until at least 31 May 2020.

This date is being regularly reviewed (as per above) and updated as the impacts of the Federal and Victorian Government strategies become apparent.

As domestic basketball competitions have been impacted, it is natural that the question of refunds comes up, given the reduced opportunities to play.

Basketball Victoria Licence

All sports across Victoria are experiencing this, and as such we have been in regular contact with the relevant sporting bodies, as we work through the best way to manage this situation for our participants, while carefully managing the financial situation of our sport.

As you would be aware, in addition to competition management and insurance, individual participant fees (the Basketball Victoria Licence) cover a range of essential services and programs which we are and will continue to deliver.

Many of the ‘winter’ sports remain optimistic that there will be some form of competition during 2020 and we’re planning different scenarios for what grass-roots competitions will be once the restrictions are relaxed or lifted.

As we have an expectation that there will be some form of competition this year, and because there has been significant investment to ensure that we are ready for the resumption in 2020, we will be providing extensions on the 365-Day Basketball Victoria Licence (a one-off, annual payment – allowing any participant to play as many times as they want, wherever they want across Victoria).

Basketball Victoria will amend each eligible participant’s expiry date within our competition management and registration system (PlayHQ) to credit the period of affiliation unusable during the COVID-19 interruption. This credit will be applied from the date of resumption, as stipulated by Basketball Victoria. Participants will be eligible if any part of their 365-day membership was affected by the COVID-19 interruption.

However, as always, we will consider requests for individual refunds to those participants who are experiencing extreme hardship at any time (the individual must contact their club or association who then escalates to Basketball Victoria via a Support Ticket).

Club or Association Refunds

We understand that some clubs and/or associations would like to refund participants as soon as possible, while others are deferring this option to enable the club or association to function and be ready for a return to basketball when applicable.

The decision of refunds is at the discretion of each organisation (club/association). Basketball Victoria can support organisations by facilitating bulk refunds for those who choose to go down this path. Clubs and Association contacts have received an email (14/04/20) detailing instructions for this process.

Leagues

Our primary concern remains the health and wellbeing of the basketball community and the return of domestic basketball when it is deemed safe and appropriate. These two principles will be considered when assessing the return of representative basketball.

VJBL – postponed until May 31, next assessment / update – May 11.

Big V 2020 – postponed until May 31, next assessment / update – May 11.

NBL1 2020 – cancelled

Country Champs, U14 Skills Days and Regional Academy.

We are hoping to reschedule these tournaments, events and programs when possible, at this stage they are postponed until May 31, 2020 with the next update – May 11.

National Junior Classic

Under the current circumstances of inter-state shutdowns and indoor venue restrictions (due to COVID-19), there is considerable doubt as to whether the 2020 National Junior Classic will proceed as planned on June 6-8, 2020.

We understand the issues with interstate travel and accommodation, so we would like to give associations and teams as much notice as possible, while hoping to hold the tournament in some capacity during 2020.

We are continuing to monitor the situation, following Government advice and liaising with stakeholders.

The next decision will be made on Monday May 11, considering all event options including rescheduling and cancellation.

We will provide further updates as soon as they come to hand via the Basketball Victoria COVID-19 page.

Aussie Hoops, 3×3, Walking Basketball and NWBL

In addition to Term Two Aussie Hoops programs being cancelled, Basketball Australia recommends all Term Three Aussie Hoops programs be suspended until further notice.

Basketball Australia will not be accepting or processing Term Three registrations or participant pack orders.

All participants who have registered for a Term Two Aussie Hoops program will be entitled to a full refund as per the Aussie Hoops Refund Policy.

Additionally, the following programs below are postponed until further notice:

Walking Basketball
3X3 Community Hustle
National Wheelchair Basketball Leagues (Men’s & Women’s).
Australian Junior Championships

Basketball Australia has determined that the Under 16 Australian JuniorChampionships, scheduled to be held in Perth in July, will no longer be proceeding.

At this stage they are investigating the option of moving these championships to a different window, however this has not yet been confirmed.

We strongly recommend coaches cease training their respective teams for the Australian Junior Championship effective immediately.

We advise all teams, their families and supporters to proceed with cancelling existing travel arrangements and take advantage of credit being offered by providers.

In addition, we will be helping you all in the coming months to stay active, engaged and connected. Skills are taught on court, but perfected at home.

Remember: Champions are made when no one is watching 💪#HoopsAtHome

Basketball will be back. We’re not going anywhere.

For more information about COVID-19 and ways to keep yourself and your family protected please visit https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/coronavirus

13/3/20 – Update

Basketball Victoria has made the decision to suspend Basketball Victoria related programs, events and leagues from now March 13, until further notice. This includes ALL VJBL games, Big V games and the Country Championships being held in Ballarat this weekend.

As this is a rapidly evolving situation, we would like to thank everyone for their understanding and patience as we work through this difficult period. This is a decision we don’t take lightly and want to reassure the basketball

community that we will continue to work with the Victorian Government and other health authorities to ensure the health and wellbeing of our players, coaches, referees and staff are maintained.

Further updates will be provided in the coming days and weeks.

If a person is supposed to be in self-isolation/quarantine because of the existence of COVID-19 in a workplace, school or elsewhere, our advice is that the individual must not participate in basketball activities, whether or not they have any symptoms, until the isolation period has expired. Playing or attending basketball does not constitute isolation.

The situation is being closely monitored and as of today, Thursday 12 March, Big V, VJBL and the Country Championships will go ahead as scheduled for this weekend (Friday 13 March – Sunday 15 March).

For any specific enquires please contact League Managers or Country Championship event organisers.