Covid 19 coronavirus: What does alert level two mean for Taranaki youth sport?

During alert level two, community sports can continue if 10 or fewer are participating.

With the country in alert level 2, Taranaki sports organisations have made plans for community and youth sports.

Alert level 2 guidelines state that community sport can continue but only if 10 or fewer people are participating.

The restriction will be reviewed on May 25.

Taranaki Hockey executive officer Denise Hill says Taranaki Hockey is working closely with Hockey NZ and Sport Taranaki to ensure the best possible outcome for local hockey.

"Sports codes have aligned to ensure the best outcomes in the return to grassroots sport."

She says the sport codes have agreed to three phases.

Phase one: Prepare to train where the venues and procedures are prepared including establishing protocols around contact tracing and cleanliness.

Phase two: Prepare to play, two to four weeks of training prior to competition starting to ensure athletes are in a physical condition to play.

Phase three: Return to competition.

"At this stage there is a limit of 10 so if we have commenced the practice phase before May 25, when the Government will review this number, practices will have to be split into groups of 10 ensuring there is no physical interaction between groups.

"The expectation is that by the time we reach the playing phase this number will have increased to a number that allows competition."

Netball Taranaki general manager Jaqua Pori-Makea-Simpson says following consultation with Netball NZ, Netball Taranaki met with clubs and schools to commence the preparing planning stage.

"We are anticipating a shortened 2020 season and will confirm more specific dates following the release of the Netball NZ guidelines in the coming week, until then all netball activities remain postponed."

Taranaki Rugby chief executive Laurence Corlett says appropriate measures, that meet the Ministry of Health guidelines, need to be clarified and consistent across all rugby clubs nationwide.

These include the responsibility of clubs and schools, hygiene, contact tracing protocols, crowd management and health and safety plans.

"We really appreciate the patience shown by all of our clubs and stakeholders during this fast-changing situation. We are unlikely to have any rugby for at least another two weeks, and we will continue to update clubs and stakeholders as new information comes to hand."

Community rugby manager Cole Brown says he is optimistic that rugby will be possible in the near future.

"We will innovate and use this as an opportunity to trial modified playing opportunities as well as traditional rugby. The learnings we take from this season will be valuable for the future.

"I'm confident that through our Colin Cooper Rugby Development project we will be well positioned to engage schools and junior clubs as soon as its safe to do so."

He says Taranaki Rugby will provide different playing opportunities at un-traditional times of the year while being mindful not to affect other sporting seasons.

"We have no intention of forcing people to decide between sporting codes."

He says clubs and schools will likely adjust their subscription prices to match the shorter programme.

"Our clubs and schools are incredibly well managed and dedicated to supporting their players, members and volunteers as best they can."

Taranaki Secondary Schools Sports Association (TSSSA) regional sports director Rebecca Scott says while all TSSSA events have been suspended until May 31, TSSSA has worked closely with all its regional sports organisations to reschedule the events.

"The eight term one events and currently six term two events will be rescheduled to run in terms three and four. We are confident that we will be able to run 90 per cent of our scheduled TSSSA 2020 events."

At level three and four, TSSSA supported school sport staff and secondary school students with a set of online resources to keep students active during lockdown.

These include TSSSA trick shot challenges, and using the Sport NZ Balance is Better website to keep that message drip feeding.

At level 2, TSSSA is developing an intra school programme called SPF 60 (60 minutes of Sport Play Fun) to keep students active and to challenge secondary school students using sport as a context for greater learning outcomes.

"The aim is to remove all barriers to participation. All challenges will comply with social distancing and non contact rules. There will be a virtual inter school competition run as part of this programme."

Rebecca says TSSSA will continue to actively provide quality sport and physical activity opportunities for Taranaki secondary school students.

"When events resume they will be modified to meet all health and safety Covid-19 requirements."