Basketball is back!

As per the state government announcement today, the restrictions on venue capacity have been increased enabling the KBA Junior Domestic competition to resume this weekend (26/27 June 2021).  Fixtures are available on PlayHQ. 

VENUE CAPACITY 

From this Friday:

  • venue capacity will increase from 50 per venue to 300 per space. 
  • with a maximum group size of 50 people per court (including players). 

SPECTATOR LIMIT 

The KBA have advised that they will allow 1 spectator per player to attend games.  If a parent/guardian has other dependants (under 15 years old) the preference is that they do not attend.  If this is not possible, dependents (under 15 years old) will be allowed in addition to the parent/guardian. 

ADHERE TO RESTRICTIONS 

It is exciting to be able to resume playing however there will be several restrictions and guidelines that we will need to follow to ensure compliance with the Government’s requirements and those outlined by Basketball Victoria. 

  • Prepare / dress at home. 
  • Shower before and after games. 
  • Wash or sanitise your hands before and after games. 
  • Participants are required to use hand sanitiser at every break in the game, including timeouts and when substituting in and out of the game. 
  • Participants should bring a personal towel and drink bottle to their games and not share these with others. 
  • Enter and exit the stadium within 10 minutes of your game. 
  • Maintain social distancing where possible (1.5M). 
  • Obey Venue Staff / COVID Safety Officer. 
  • ALL attendees must check in on entry. 
  • Spectators over the age of 12 must wear a mask indoors. 
  • Players over the age of 12 must wear a mask to and from the court. 
  • Stay at home if unwell and if you have COVID symptoms (fever, coughing, fatigue, shortness of breath or sore throat), get tested. 
  • Teams are limited to bringing a maximum of two basketballs. The team basketballs brought into a stadium must be sanitised prior to use at the stadium. 
  • 1 spectator per player allowed. 

MASKS 

Masks will be compulsory for all spectators over the age of 12 whilst indoors at all KBA venues unless a medical exemption is provided and shown.  Players over the age of 12 will be required to wear masks when not on the court. 

QR CODE 

It is compulsory to QR code when entering any venue.  KBA venue supervisors have been instructed to request people to check into the respective venues.  Failure to enforce this can lead to substantial fines for the KBA. 

A QR Kiosk (a laptop) is located at the entry to Keilor Stadium.  This can be used to QR code for those without phones.  The QR Kiosk is directly connected to our government QR Code with first name, last name and contact number required.  These details are only held for a period of 28 days and can only be accessed by the authorities. 

GAME DURATION 

The Basketball Victoria’s (BV) Return to Sport (RTS) Guidelines state: 

  • Breaks between games and/or training/development sessions 
    Scheduling of games must have a minimum of a 20-minute differential between the scheduled length of the game/session and the time allocation for the game/session. This guideline is designed to allow time for Group A to depart the stadium prior to Group B arriving and for staff to complete sanitisation requirement. 

Based on the above, we expect the KBA to shorten the games to 15-minutes per half.  This will allow the venue supervisors to clean surfaces between games, allow teams and spectators to exit before the arrival of the next team, and spectators and ensure that venue capacity limits are not exceeded.  The KBA has not confirmed this yet. 

We are excited that basketball is back but remind everyone that we need to comply with the requirements to keep everyone safe and compliant.  We hope the restrictions will be further relaxed when we return after the school holidays. 

There will be a two-week break for school holidays after this weekend. The Junior Domestic competition will return for the remainder of the 2021 Winter season on the weekend of 17/18 July 2021. 

We look forward to getting back to basketball, the sport we all love and hope that we do not have any interruptions in term 3!  Enjoy the games this weekend, stay safe in the holidays and keep balling!