Dear Jericho Baseball Parents and Players,
On behalf of the Jericho Little League board and our executive team, a thank you to all our parents for their continued patience. The effort and engagement of our volunteers exemplifies the strength of our community.
As you may be aware, the BC Government body viaSports issued their return to play guidelines for community sport organizations - https://www.viasport.ca/return-sport. With this first key step, Baseball BC developed guidelines for baseball that are consistent with the viaSport approach.
For those who choose to acknowledge the risks and decide to play we are pleased to offer community baseball for this summer. Little League Baseball will continue in various communities across British Columbia, in a modified form to ensure compliance with Phase 2 stage for sport activities. Phase 2 is outlined in the viaSport return to play guidelines on their website. This means a focus on small teams / group skill activity. Though there will be no tournaments or other large events we view this as a positive to encourage the kids to get outside and enjoy the game of baseball and at the same time interacting with the community in a safe and measured approach.
In terms of what the season will look like this will ultimately depend on the number of available player and volunteer participants at each level and current health and safety requirements. We propose to run a season for the month of July. If interested, we ask you please register at https://go.teamsnap.com/forms/233907 prior to June 21. In order to organize the season, it is important we have a sense of the # of participants and volunteers as soon as possible. A season will only be possible with the continued dedication of our parent volunteers in terms of coaching (even if just 1 or 2 training sessions you can attend), field maintenance and safety.
We fully appreciate every family has different travel plans or other considerations that will not make full participation possible. This is understandably and we still encourage registration even if you can only participate on a part-time basis. Other than safety and fun, the other guiding principle will be flexibility. This season will be flexible and designed to provide the best experience possible. We anticipate small group training at various age / skill levels (10 athletes maximum), with a potential for limited modified games at end of season. Given the change in the season the fees have been reduced and are designed to cover the operation cost of the summer season. If your individual circumstances change or updates from health authorities make a return to play not possible 100% refunds will be provided.
In addition to working to prepare for the start of the season, we have created a dedicated COVID committee to develop our Jericho guidelines and policies leveraging the requirements mentioned above. The Jericho Return to Play Guidelines are attached to this email and will posted on our website. Since we are a volunteer organization we will require acceptance of an enhanced waiver as part of the registration process in order to participate since our insurer is excluding all coverage for claims arising from COVID.
While we are all doing our best to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19, while the virus circulates in our communities it is impossible to completely eliminate the risk. Each participant must make their own decision as to whether it is in their best interest to resume participation at this time. You must take into account your own circumstances and make the decision that is right for you. Should you choose to join us, we require your full cooperation with our Return to Play Guidelines.
Play Ball (in a safe a socially distant manner)!!!
Doug (DA) Anderson, President
Dean Murray, Vice-President
