WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

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Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 21/08/2020

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I hope you and you families are continuing to stay safe and well.

In an effort to return to some competitive play, a “trial” event was held last Sunday, 16th August, with 8 doubles playing in accordance with the WPA’s published guidance.

We received some invaluable feedback both on the day and subsequently, for which we are very grateful.

The EC met yesterday and reviewed the outcome of this trial event. We have waited until today to publish our findings and update our Guidelines in order to see if the Welsh Government’s latest review contained anything that may affect our decisions (for example, we are aware that the WSA had submitted a recommendation to the WG to increase the size of organised outdoor gatherings, and reduce the 2m social-distancing regulation to 1m+).

As a result of our findings and the subsequent discussions, we have decided that we are happy to allow Clubs to make use of all their pistes PROVIDED they have sufficient space at the edges and ends of their playing area to establish “safe havens”, where players can stand while their opponents are playing. Please note, however, that if there is insufficient space to create these “safe havens”, the current guidance which only permits play on every-other piste MUST be retained.

Our Guidelines for Clubs have been updated to reflect this, and contain an explanatory diagram, and can be found on our COVID-19 Webpage.

The Executive has contacted all Clubs to ask for their availability to host a number of National events and will be publishing a Calendar in the very near future.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

 

 

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

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Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 06/08/2020

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I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

Following our attendance of the Welsh Sports Association (WSA) call on Tuesday morning the EC met on Wednesday 5th August.

Full details of the Guidelines, along with the WG FAQ document and the UK Government’s advice on cleaning in non-healthcare situations can be found on the WPA’s COVID-19 Advice and Information page here.

As a result of studying the relevant sections of the WG Guidelines, we have updated our own guidelines, which are also published on the above page.

To emphasise a number of points:

• As well as outdoor gatherings of UP-TO 30 people taking place for “organised and supervised” activities, the WG now permits outdoor gatherings of up-to 30 people for social purposes. Please be aware that these social gatherings MUST still adhere to the 2m social-distancing instructions.

• The WSA & WG have confirmed that this “social” gathering can be applied to spectators, and is in addition to the organised gathering of people taking part in a sporting activity:

  “Re organised outdoor events, if there are people who are socially distant from the field of play – and from each other – and their presence doesn’t obstruct or interfere with the safety arrangements planned by the organisers for the event, then they would not count towards the 30 total. Here is what our guidance says on that point:

  Spectators

  Supporters and other spectators should be limited at this stage to only those persons who need to attend, e.g. parents or guardians of children who require their attendance for health or safeguarding reasons.  All spectators are to remain socially and physically distanced from each other and from the area of play whilst attending events, including accessing and leaving the venue, use of any facilities and whilst watching game play.

  Anyone on the area of play, or closer to it than social distancing rules would permit, will count towards the total number people considered to the gathered for the organised outdoor activity, where a limit of no more than 30 persons applies.“

• The WPA has decided that spectators should still be discouraged from attending any organised event, but should any bystanders be present, they MUST be a minimum of 2m from the edge of the playing area. Should an organised event take place at an “open” area, the organisers should make sure a barrier or other marker is in place at least 2m from the edge of the playing area.

The Executive also moved to draft an updated playing calendar with a limited number of events which will be further refined and published in the near future.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

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Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 18/07/2020

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I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As I stated in my previous update, the Welsh Government (WG) announced a further relaxation of the rules, including a resumption of outdoors activities from Monday 13th July.

Following our attendance of the Welsh Sports Association (WSA) call on Monday afternoon the EC met on Tuesday 14th July and then on Wednesday 15th received an updated copy of the detailed Guidance from the WG.

Full details of the Guidelines, allow with the WG FAQ document and the UK Government’s advice on cleaning in non-healthcare situations can be found on the WPA’s COVID-19 Advice and Information page here.

As a result of studying the relevant sections of the WG Guidelines, we have updated our own guidelines, which are also published on the above page.

To emphasise a number of points:

• Gatherings of UP-TO 30 people can now take place for “organised and supervised” activities. It is important to understand the meaning of this, as it is the responsibility of the Association (for a WPA-organised event) or the Club to ensure these conditions are met and adhered to. This requires the appointment of a non-playing nominated responsible person, who MUST record the contact details of EVERYONE present. The responsible person must also ensure 2m social-distancing is adhered to.

• Please be aware that the 30-people maximum limit does NOT just mean 30 players, but includes the responsible person as well as any other officials (Umpire, Marker, etc).

• Any informal gathering of people (i.e. one that is not organised and supervised) must adhere to the previous guidelines of no more than 2 households (or extended households).

There is another meeting of the WSA’s Outdoor Sport Phased Return Planning Group on Monday 20th, so there may be a further update to these instructions after that.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

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Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 10/07/2020

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I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As you will, no doubt, be aware, the Welsh Government (WG) has today a further relaxation of the rules, including a resumption of outdoors activities from Monday 13th July.

“The Welsh Government is also making changes to the regulations to allow larger gatherings of up to 30 people outdoors only where these are organised and supervised by a responsible person for sports and other leisure activities and classes.

This will allow sports and leisure activities, such as fitness and dance classes to take place outdoors.“

The WPA will be joining a WSA call on Monday afternoon and the EC will meet following that and issue a further statement as soon as possible afterwards.

The WG’s latest press-release can be found here.

In the meantime, we appreciate your ongoing patience, and hope you and your families stay healthy.

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

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Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 06/07/2020

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I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As you will, no doubt, be aware, the Welsh Government (WG) has today allowed a further relaxation of the rules, in particular the lifting of the 5-mile “Stay Local” instruction.

The EC met this afternoon and has realised an update of its guidelines.

Significantly, now that members of 2 households are allowed to meet, we feel that doubles play can now take place, provided no more than 2 households are taking part.

As I pointed out in the Ordinary General Meeting last week, the Welsh Government still considers a “gathering” of more than 2 households to be  illegal, but we are unclear what constitutes a “gathering”. We have lobbied the Welsh Government for clarification on this point and will update our guidelines when we receive it.

The following graphic provides a summary of the updated guidelines:

A copy of this summary can be downloaded here.

The updated Guidelines for Clubs can be downloaded here.

The updated Guidelines for Players can be downloaded here.

The WPA has produced a suggested playing guide that should help with managing singles-play during a game. A copy can be downloaded here.

The WPA has also produced some signage posters which Clubs can use to help with directions. A copy can be downloaded here.

The EC will continue to monitor the situation and will issue further updates as we have them.

In the meantime, we hope you and your families stay healthy.

 

REMEMBER:

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

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Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 19/06/2020

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I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

As you will, no doubt, be aware, the Welsh Government (WG) has today announced a relaxing of the lockdown rules from Monday 22nd June.

The EC met this afternoon following the WG’s announcement and can confirm that pétanque is covered under the list of sports allowed to open – subject to the travel restrictions and the adherence to the guidelines.

As a result, the WPA have produced an updated set of Guidelines Clubs and for Players, which MUST BE ADHERED TO in order to resume playing.

PLEASE NOTE THAT ONLY SINGLES PLAY, PRACTICE, OR 1:1 COACHING IS ALLOWED AT THE PRESENT TIME. TEAM SPORTS ARE STILL NOT PERMITTED.

The following graphic provides a summary of the guidelines:

A copy of this summary can be downloaded here.

The latest Guidelines for Clubs can be downloaded here.

The latest Guidelines for Players can be downloaded here.

The WPA has produced a suggested playing guide that should help with managing singles-play during a game. A copy can be downloaded here.

The WPA has also produced some signage posters which Clubs can use to help with directions. A copy can be downloaded here.

The detail of the WG’s announcement can be found here.

With the announcement that further restrictions, including those related to travel, could be lifted by Monday 6th July, the WPA is looking at organising a limited number of competitions during the summer. Further information will be made available as we have details.

The EC will continue to monitor the situation and will issue further updates as we have them.

In the meantime, we hope you and your families stay healthy.

 

REMEMBER:

 

#STAY LOCAL

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.

WPA ANNOUNCEMENT

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Novel Coronavirus

(COVID-19)

UPDATE – 03/06/2020

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I hope you and you families are staying safe and well.

The WPA Executive Committee has been closely monitoring the situation with regard to the official advice from the UK and Welsh Governments and NHS and NHS Wales.

The EC met on Monday 1st June and earlier today we attended the regular Welsh Sports Association (WSA) Business Continuity meeting.

Although the Welsh Government (WG) have still not yet given permission for sport to resume, we are working hard with the WSA and Sport Wales (SW) to do everything we can to get our sport included in the first tranche of sports allowed to resume.

As a result of this, we have updated and are publishing the guidelines that we sent in draft form to the Club Representatives yesterday, in readiness for us being allowed to resume playing. This will allow time for Clubs to make any necessary preparations in readiness for the resumption.

The following graphic provides a summary of the guidelines:

A copy can be downloaded here.

The latest Guidelines can be downloaded here.

The EC will continue to monitor the situation and will issue further updates as we have them.

In the meantime, we hope you and your families stay healthy.

 

REMEMBER:

 

#STAY LOCAL

#KEEP WALES SAFE

 

Robert Pugh

National President.