During the Health Secretary's statement to Parliament earlier this evening, the government advised people against all unnecessary social contact with others and all unnecessary travel. They cited a number of public spaces that should be avoided and stated that the advice, whist directed at everyone, was especially important for the over 70s, for pregnant women and for those with some health conditions.
In response, Swim England has cancelled a number of forthcoming events, up until the end of May. Jane Nickerson, Swim England chief executive, said: “Cancelling events is not a decision to take lightly but following the latest announcement by the Government, it’s only right and fair to our members and clubs that we made an announcement sooner rather than later.”…
“At present the Government has not closed schools or restricted school activity and therefore we do not see any reason why clubs should not continue with their training programmes in their own environment within the guidelines of the facility.” But also said “We do not recommend training camps take place with members from different clubs.”
The ESSA Primary Schools Team Championships are scheduled for early June, and a decision will be taken by early May as to how this event is affected.
Whilst the DfE advice does not restrict school travel within the UK, the advice against multi club events and unnecessary social contact implies that there is no longer support for multi-school sporting competitions.
Further, a significant proportion of our officials/volunteers that help out at our galas are in an age group that means we should not ask them to participate, leaving us potentially short of people to run our galas effectively.
It is therefore with deep regret that, in line with the advice from the government and Swim England, ESSA is no longer able to recommend continuing with county/divisional rounds of these championships.
Measures are being considered that would allow teams to be selected to represent their divisions at the national finals in the event that continues, and these will be announced by early May at the latest.
Stewart Nicklin
ESSA Hon. Championship Secretary
In response, Swim England has cancelled a number of forthcoming events, up until the end of May. Jane Nickerson, Swim England chief executive, said: “Cancelling events is not a decision to take lightly but following the latest announcement by the Government, it’s only right and fair to our members and clubs that we made an announcement sooner rather than later.”…
“At present the Government has not closed schools or restricted school activity and therefore we do not see any reason why clubs should not continue with their training programmes in their own environment within the guidelines of the facility.” But also said “We do not recommend training camps take place with members from different clubs.”
The ESSA Primary Schools Team Championships are scheduled for early June, and a decision will be taken by early May as to how this event is affected.
Whilst the DfE advice does not restrict school travel within the UK, the advice against multi club events and unnecessary social contact implies that there is no longer support for multi-school sporting competitions.
Further, a significant proportion of our officials/volunteers that help out at our galas are in an age group that means we should not ask them to participate, leaving us potentially short of people to run our galas effectively.
It is therefore with deep regret that, in line with the advice from the government and Swim England, ESSA is no longer able to recommend continuing with county/divisional rounds of these championships.
Measures are being considered that would allow teams to be selected to represent their divisions at the national finals in the event that continues, and these will be announced by early May at the latest.
Stewart Nicklin
ESSA Hon. Championship Secretary
RSS Feed