WRFL STATEMENT 17/03/2020

Update on COVID-19 - Tuesday, March 17
Joint League Statement
Following a meeting of the six senior metropolitan community leagues today, including the EDFL, EFNL, NFNL, SFNL, VAFA and WRFL, please refer to the following statement.
The decision has been made to manage the COVID-19 issue for community football, netball and umpiring with a staged approach.
A collective decision has been made to postpone all community senior and junior football and netball competitions until the weekend of Saturday, May 2, 2020.
All Leagues agreed to suspend practice matches effective immediately and recommend that club training ceases until further notice.
The Leagues will re-convene on Tuesday, April 14 to review and/or confirm this commencement date, subject to the status of the COVID-19 pandemic.
This decision has been reached with consideration to Consistency, League and Club Sustainability and the Health and Welfare of all stakeholders.
We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding with this matter.

UPDATE 17/03/2020

Deer Park Football Club Statement on – COVID 19

The Committee of the Deer Park Football club wishes to advise its players, parents and members of the decision to suspend training and attendance at the Football Club for foreseeable future for all Seniors and Juniors teams, this decision was not lightly adopted and the Committee is of the belief that is necessary to ensure we are mitigating all risks.

The Committee will remain to be in contact with its members via social media as the circumstances change and will continue to work with the WRFL and other governing bodies to ensure that the health and safety of members is paramount.

The Club rooms is being fitted with sanitizing facilities and cleaning stations and also undertaking a comprehensive cleaning process during this time and will work to develop a best practice set of guidelines going forward.

The club appreciates the difficulties associated with this decision and hopes that its players, parents and members will understand and respect the policies adopted at this time.

16/03/2020

Deer Park Football Club Statement on – COVID 19

The Committee of the Deer Park Football is in constant contact with the WRFL relating to the measures and steps that are needed to ensure we are dealing with the situation in the best way possible below are some of the recommendations and guidelines designed to ensure that we are reducing risk of infection.

We will continue to be advised by the appropriate authorities and, as additional information comes to hand, decisions will be made based on this information.

The AFL sent out a message to all community clubs on Friday evening and the Deer Park Football Club endorses its recommendations. Based on the most recent advice it has received from the AFL the Club is comfortable for training and/or practice matches to proceed provided the communicated precautions are taken, particularly eliminating the use of shared water bottles.

In addition, some other useful pieces of information relating to the COVID 19 Virus are provided below:

General Practices

The current understanding is that COVID‐19 is spread from person‐to‐person when people are in close contact or when an infected person coughs or sneezes, releasing the virus into the air as droplets. These droplets can then enter another person’s mouth or nose or possibly be inhaled into the lungs. Infection may also be spread by touching a surface contaminated with COVID‐19 then touching your mouth, nose or eyes.

Symptoms of COVID‐19 infection typically begin 2‐14 days after exposure and include fever, fatigue, muscle aches and cough. More severe symptoms include diarrhoea, difficulty breathing and pneumonia.

If you have not been in an area where COVID‐19 is spreading or been in close contact with someone who has and is now infected, your chances of getting COVID‐19 are currently low. However, it’s understandable that people may feel anxious about the situation.

The precautions outlined below are recommended to limit your exposure and prevent the spread of germs:

Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds;
If soap and water are not available, use an alcohol‐based hand sanitiser;
Cover your mouth to cough or sneeze using flexed elbow or tissue; and
Dispose of used tissues in an enclosed bin.

Overseas Travel

If you or a club patron have returned from international travel or a known area in which COVID-19 has spread in the last 14 days, you will need to follow the government’s advice, found here and/or call the COVID-19 hotline on 1800 675 398.

While the league appreciates overseas travel is often planned many months in advance, the current medical advice is to reconsider non-essential travel. Up-to-date travel advice can be found at www.smarttraveller.gov.au.

Club responsibilities

The league asks that club officials:

Inform players, coaches and volunteers who are feeling unwell to avoid training, events and games until they have been given clearance by their doctor;
Ensure you are educating your club members regarding your club requirements relating to attendance and non-attendance at trainings, game days and club functions (e.g. Players to advise coaches of absences);
Take responsibility to educate club members about general hygiene practices;
Clean any surfaces that are of regular use in your clubrooms and any other items that may be shared (i.e. water bottle carriers, footballs), both before and after games and training sessions. This may be best delegated using a roster to allocate club officials to specific trainings and game days to ensure this is completed;
Discontinue the club’s use of shared water bottles;
Ensure soap dispensers are always installed, full and available wherever sinks are located, and ensure hand sanitiser is readily available around club facilities;
Prepare your club’s own risk assessment of its venues and practices in relation to COVID-19;
Discuss any concerns with your local council.

Merchandise

Available for Purchase at the club on Thursday Night training sessions or Saturday home games. Contact Candice on 0439 111 590 for further details.