England Lacrosse were delighted to see the Government’s announcements last week outlining a roadmap out of national lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions and the long-awaited, and much needed, return of grassroots sport starting Monday 29 March.
It is great news that the country will once again be permitted to pick up a lacrosse stick and step out onto the field but there are still many unknowns and uncertainties surrounding the Return to Play (RTP). As well as waiting for further guidance from the Government surrounding grassroots sport, we are also awaiting further updates around what people will be able to do with regards to travel, sporting facilities and additional rules for the playing of sport.
The detailed government guidelines will affect the level to which the game can return and as soon as we have these updates from Government and Sport England, we will publish our guidance for lacrosse to return to playing.
Since the Government announcement last week meetings with the Chairs of the Regional Lacrosse Associations have taken place to discuss the RTP of lacrosse and to keep them updated with what we know so far and ensure that lacrosse can start as quickly and as safely as possible.
School sport will restart from Monday 8 March which will include lacrosse being played for the first time in 2021 but this will exclude travelling to play external fixtures.
The rest of the game will be targeting a restart from Monday 29 March. However, we are still unsure of what level of return this will be and what restrictions may be in place. We are awaiting an update of Sport England’s Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) as well as a detailed RTP outline which we expect to receive any time up to the 26th of March.
England Lacrosse staff are attending an update session on the guidelines for RTP on Monday (8 March) and this will assist in understanding what the key issues are and what restrictions may be used to address them.
Our England Lacrosse Medical Panel will meet during the week of 22 March to discuss any and all RTP guidelines prior to their release to the wider game to ensure they allow participants to play lacrosse safely.
Once this meeting has been held, we will then release the approved detailed guidance enabling lacrosse to return from the 29th of March.
Upon publishing the guidance, England Lacrosse will then hold a series of webinars to various parties within the game to keep them informed and answer your questions. We expect these webinars to be held in the week beginning 22 March.
Finally, we will draw up our own RTP roadmap detailing dates in March, April, May, and June in preparation for the easing of restrictions.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began almost a year ago, the lacrosse community has been amazing, respecting all guidance as and when it has come into force, and we thank you for that and this loose roadmap to RTP will undoubtedly bring some hope as well as a light at the end of a very long tunnel.