COVID-19
2021 COVID-19 Procedures & Update – June 4th, 2021:
Hello Baseball Saskatoon Members. We have completed our first week of games, we hope that everyone had a great week being back to competing on the diamonds!
We want to remind everyone of the guidelines, and we ask that everyone please adhere to them. We are not out of the woods yet, we want everyone to stay as safe as possible, and we don’t want any of our teams or leagues to be shut down.
In addition to the below guidelines, we have some clarifications and some guidelines that pertain to our Baseball Saskatoon teams:
- It is not very clear in the government or Baseball Sask guidelines, but we have verified with Baseball Sask that masks are NOT required at any time on or off the field by players, coaches, umpires or spectators. Those who choose to may continue to wear masks.
- The government and Baseball Sask guidelines do not mention it, but Baseball Sask has recommended to us that players physical distance in the dugouts, for huddles, etc. We would like to see players spread out when receiving instruction from coaches, physical distancing while in the dugouts and on benches (we recommend having players bring their own chairs and spread out along the sidelines as we did last year) and spread out for post-game huddles. Coaches, it will be your responsibility to remind players to physically distance themselves from other players and to organize huddles and instructions so that players remain physically distanced.
- Teams will need some hand sanitizer on hand for their games, and will need some disinfectant if there is any sharing of equipment (such as backcatcher equipment, baseballs, team bats, etc.)
- Please remember to utilize the TeamLinkt waivers before each event. Everyone should be giving themselves a self-assessment before each event and using TeamLinkt to sign the waiver that you are feeling well and have no symptoms, etc., as well as to mark down all attendees for contact tracing purposes. In the case of a positive COVID case, we will easily be able to notify close contacts with the TeamLinkt waivers. This is replacing the last point in the below guidelines; we will not require you to keep papers for contact tracing.
- The Step 1 guidelines below replace the guidelines that were previously communicated out before Step 1.
The guidelines are as follows:
- Participants may not compete if they are feeling unwell.
- Players and coaches should be encouraged to screen for COVID-19 symptoms prior to arriving to practice and play, using the self-assessment tool at saskatchewan.ca/COVID19.
- League play is allowed to resume; however, tournaments are not permitted at this time. This will be revisited in Step Two of the Re-Opening Roadmap.
- No interprovincial travel. Teams competing in regional interprovincial leagues need to contact the Business Response Team prior to beginning play.
- Capacity must be in compliance with the public health order for public outdoor gatherings for each playing surface or game area. Public outdoor gatherings are set to expand to a limit of 150 people on May 30 as part of the Re-Opening Roadmap. Common areas, such as those where there are multiple playing surfaces, must also be in compliance with gathering limits in the public health order.
- Individual and protective equipment should not be shared. When helmets and bats or other equipment are shared, cleaning and disinfecting must occur between each use.
- Commonly touched equipment used for game play (e.g. game ball, football) is routinely replaced or disinfected during the course of practice or play.
- Coaches, officials, umpires, referees and players who are not on the field are not required to wear masks outdoors under the public health order. However, masks may be worn if they are more comfortable with that layer of protection.
- No shaking hands, high-fives, etc.
- Spectators not from the same household should maintain two meters of physical distancing.
- Spectators must remain in designated areas. Masks are not required to be worn outdoors under the public health order, but they may be worn if spectators are more comfortable with that layer of protection.
- Hand sanitizer approved by Health Canada (DIN or NPN) or soap and water handwashing stations should be available for participants and spectators.
- No sharing of water bottles.
- Public washrooms, when available, are cleaned and disinfected regularly, and soap and water or hand sanitizer is available.
- Contact information of the coaches, officials and players should be recorded by the home team and maintained in order to assist with contact tracing for 30 days in the case of a confirmed case of COVID-19.
Thank you to everyone for your cooperation!
Thank you,
Baseball Saskatoon
Baseball Saskatoon has formed a COVID-19 Response Team (Marlow Knight, Jesse Korte, Pat Moser, Mike Pavloff). This team prepared some documents in 2020 that summarize what is expected of everyone to adhere to the requirements outlined in the 2020 Return To Train/Play Document.
These prepared documents/checklists can be found below: