Hampton Junior Soccer Club

Below is a communication received from council regarding the introduction of the stage 3 lockdown.  Therefore, in line with the State Government announcement of restrictions from 11:59 Wednesday 8th July, the club will no longer have access to grounds and all teams should cease their training.

Whilst this is very disappointing, I know we were all looking forward to playing this weekend, we have to comply with government guidelines.  The wider impact for the rest of the season, will need to be addressed, so please bear with us whilst this is addressed. 

Good Afternoon,

I hope you are all keeping well as the COVID-19 situation develops further.

In response to the most recent State Government announcements to return to Stage 3 restrictions across metropolitan Melbourne, Council will withdraw all access to sportsgrounds and pavilions effective Wednesday 8 July 11:59pm.

This measure will remain in place for the next six weeks with updates communicated to club liaisons as further advice becomes available. Clubs will continue to have access to storerooms throughout this period to enable equipment management and maintenance to occur, however social distancing protocols should be strictly enforced.

Please ensure this announcement is widely distributed to your network to prevent coaches scheduling training on Council sportsgrounds. It is essential that individuals are aware that use of Councils sportsgrounds without permission will likely void club insurances and in the instance where an injury occurs during unauthorised access, club officials may be personally liable.

The Recreation and Events team will continue to be available throughout this period and will provide updates as new advice is provided by both the Federal and State Government.  

We appreciate your support throughout this period and we hope that our sports community and their extended families remain safe.

As key stakeholders for community sport in Victoria organisations have published guidelines for the commencement of community sport across Victoria. 

Whilst not mandatory, we are strongly encourgae to download the Covid19 Safe App as they will help with tracking in teh event of any outbreaks. Further information can be found here and as a club we support the use of this app to assist with getting back to a level of 'normality'.

First and foremost we must comply with the Directions issued by the Chief Health Officer of Victoria, which can be found:- https://www.dhhs.vic.gov.au/state-emergency

Sport & Recreation Victoria have published the following: https://tinyurl.com/y74af7vm  which also includes FAQ for participants in sporting activities. 

Football Victoria (FV) have published a return to training document - 

Bayside Council - The council are still finalising their plans in relation to the other governing bodies that have issued documents/policies and the latest statement from the council can be found here. 

This will be updated as we receive further information from the council.

PLEASE NOTE! - As it currently stands, we do not have any access rights from council to operate on any council provided land.  All tenancy agreements were withdrawn at the start of lockdown and haven’t been reinstated as yet. 

Weekends will not be made available for the purpose of training, we have instead extended access to include Monday and Fridays previously not allowed. VicPol have been notified of our approved allocations and will enforce DHHS penalties to anyone found breaching these restrictions. We are aware that sportsgrounds are used by non-Bayside Clubs who will be issued the maximum fine. Please ensure your club doesn’t find itself in this position.

• Must comply with DHHS restrictions and have a Return to Training Plan approved by their Association and forwarded to Council for landlord consent;
  
• Club must sign a separate Covid 19 agreement that sites that a breach may result in immediate withdrawal of any remaining 2020 winter season allocation. This document will be issued with your approved allocation. Sportsground lighting will not be turned on until we receive this signed document;
  
• Council staff will inspect venues to check compliance with the approved Training Plan - Club coaches/Managers to be instructed that they must fully cooperate with staff if the venue is inspected;
  
• A first and final warning for any breaches;
  
• Club and relevant Association notified by email of any breaches;
  
• If first breaches are extreme Council may choose to immediately withdraw 2020 winter tenancy; and
  
• Second breach (by Club, regardless of team) will result in immediate withdrawal of 2020 winter allocation.