Baseball Victoria, in this unprecedented and unique situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, is taking a lead from international and national sporting codes to postpone all Victorian Baseball activity from Tuesday, 17 March 2020 until Tuesday, 7 April 2020.
Decisions in relation to the health and safety of our baseball community have been given careful consideration. Following consultations with the federal and state government, Sport Australia and Baseball Australia and our state and territory baseball counterparts, as well as following in line with restrictions on Major League Baseball in the United States, we are postponing our non-essential static gatherings as a precautionary action to assist in stopping the spread of this virus to the most vulnerable members of our communities.
Baseball Victoria and all our member clubs and associations incorporating all remaining summer baseball activities, all winter association and club activity across Victoria and all Baseball Victoria activities will cease for 21 days. This includes all training, club activities and team meetings, as well as events, tournaments and competitions.
With all 2019/20 VSBL competitions now complete, this will affect the postponement of the 2020 Baseball Victoria Awards Night, which was scheduled for Thursday, 26 March and has now been postponed until September 2020.
“The current situation is unprecedented in our lifetimes with the direct or indirect consequences of COVID-19 progressively impacting every aspect of Victorian, Australian and Global Communities. The impact on the ability for the Sport of Baseball to proceed at this time is just one of many COVID-19 impacts the Victorian Baseball Community is now experiencing. This decision was taken after extensive internal and external consultation and is based on the health and welfare of the Victorian Baseball Community and is consistent with a number of broader measures being implemented by government, business and sport to try and reduce the spread of COVID-19. These are very challenging and uncertain times and the measures announced today provide clarity on the next 21 days with updates to follow as the situation continues to evolve,” Baseball Victoria President Myles Foreman said.
This is a quickly evolving situation that changes every day, and that means a decision made today may be updated tomorrow. By clearly postponing events in our immediate future, we have the opportunity to make strong plans for the future that will ensure we can recommence baseball activities as soon as it is appropriate to do so.
Please note that as of today, the Baseball Victoria office has enacted its ‘Work From Home Plan’. The Baseball Victoria landline telephone will be diverted accordingly, and you can still call this number at any time. All staff are available directly via mobile and email. Please click HERE for full contact details.
All further updates from Baseball Victoria will be found HERE on the Baseball Victoria website and will also be communicated by the Baseball Victoria social media channels.