Baseball Victoria continues to closely monitor the COVID-19 situation while working with State and Federal Governments, Baseball Australia and our state and territory counterparts to create the safest strategy for getting back to baseball activity.
As the landscape continues to evolve across the states and territories, Baseball Victoria is working through the National Principles for the Resumption of Sport and Recreation Activities. These principles will set the precedent for the eventual return to community sports, and in order to safely return to activity, we must adhere to these principles along with the AIS Framework for Rebooting Sport in a COVID-19 Environment. Currently in a draft framework, these principles will be approved in part or full by the Federal Government and then enacted by the States and Territories with additional requirements.
“Victoria has done a great job of staying home and social distancing, so thank you to our Victorian baseball community for doing your part. However, we cannot backtrack by returning to activity too soon without proper guidelines in place,” Baseball Victoria CEO Kristie Middleton said. “We want to return to baseball as soon as it’s safely possible, and that means we need to continue to be patient and our entire community needs to be willing to make adjustments. By accepting and embracing changes to maintain social distancing and personal hygiene, we can get our sport back up and running safely. The health and wellbeing of our members remains our top priority as we plan for the weeks and months ahead.”
A possible return to activity in the coming weeks would constitute small training groups of no more than 10 people including coaches and staff. All baseball activity will need to follow social distancing guidelines outlined by Baseball Victoria and the Victorian government. We will have more details on this timeline and the requirements for returning to activity soon, and we will provide updates accordingly.
Baseball Victoria continues to work with winter associations in establishing when we will be able to return to activity. Each association will decide on how they wish to return to activity and participate in the remaining time for the winter season.
Baseball Victoria also continues to communicate with VSBL clubs on the start of the 2020/21 summer season. We are in regular contact with Sport and Recreation Victoria, local councils and winter associations to determine when the summer season will start and when clubs will have access to summer baseball diamonds.
Baseball Victoria will confirm any adjustments to state and national fees for the winter and summer seasons as starting dates are confirmed.
We are also working to ensure all clubrooms and club facilities across both the winter and summer seasons are appropriately cleaned and that all fields are well-maintained during this time.
Please note we believe it will be unlikely that international travel will return in time for import players for the summer season, however any updates or confirmation of this will be made accordingly.
If you have any questions please contact Baseball Victoria, with full contact details available HERE.
The COVIDSafe app is now available and will allow authorities to quickly track and control the spread of COVID-19. Please consider downloading the app to help save lives, protect the community and get baseball back as soon as possible. Click HERE to learn more.
For up-to-date information on keeping your family safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, please visit the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services website HERE.
All further updates from Baseball Victoria will be available on the Baseball Victoria website and will also be communicated by the Baseball Victoria social media channels.