Dear Member,
All of us will have been wondering how Coronavirus will affect squash at Northern especially after government advice to avoid pubs, restaurants and unnecessary social interaction.
Common sense suggests that decisions on sports clubs in general may eventually be taken at national level. Your squash committee did have its regular monthly meeting on Monday when we felt it might be helpful to let everyone know the position so far - or as much as we know anyway.
It’s not ultimately this committee’s decision if the club should open or close; nor is it our position to tell members how they should interact. However, it would clearly seem completely out of step to continue with club organised events. Meantime, here’s a summary of what is happening - or, more accurately, what is not:
NORTHUMBRIA LEAGUE
All team matches have been suspended from Monday night.
GEOFF YOUNGER TROPHY
Saturday’s Over 50s competition has been postponed.
INTERNAL LEAGUES
Wayne has already received quite a few notes from members asking to be left out of the next league which was due to be announced at the weekend. He is going to assess how many members still, in theory, were looking to play and will delay releasing the next leagues. He may decide to issue them but without a scheduled completion date. Events may decide for him. Let him know if you do want to step down.
JUNIOR COACHING
Richard Vitty and Junior Committee Chair Tim Barker have decided to suspend all Junior Coaching. They are looking at the implications of fees paid for uncompleted courses etc. Please give them a bit of time.
ADULT CLUB NIGHT
Club night will be suspended till further notice. It was not going to happen this Saturday anyway because of the Geoff Younger competition.
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS/PRESENTATION NIGHT
This week long event was scheduled for the last week in April and will now be postponed.
RACKETBALL NIGHT
There are a few courts reserved for the first racketball evening on Sunday. As only a very few players are involved in what is essentially an informal gathering, we will leave it to them individually to decide.
Those of you who have been to the club in the past few days will have seen manager David Giles has already undertaken commendable measures to increase hygiene levels. A copy of his actions is included below.
England Squash has also issue guidelines to clubs:
https://www.englandsquash.com/news/england-squash-coronavirus-statement
At present there is no direct advice to discontinue what they describe as “small scale community squash”. Members will have their own views on whether this is in conflict with social distancing.
Just in case you weren’t aware, there will be no rugby at Northern following the RFU’s decision to suspend all matches, training, courses etc at all levels.
We’ll pass on any decisions taken by Northern’s Executive Committee/Club Management.
Good luck to us all and take care.
NORTHERN SQUASH COMMITTEE.
Northern Rugby & Squash Club Coronavirus Prevention
To keep Northern as safe as possible we have taken the following measures.
- Provide tissues throughout the club communal areas with posters encouraging the ‘Catch It Bin It Kill It’ message.
- Provide sanitiser wipes at the main entrances with notices encouraging everyone to sanitiser their hands upon entering.
- Displayed NHS approved ‘Hand Cleaning Techniques’ posters in all areas and toilets.
- Changed cleaning products to speed up sanitisation contact times.
- Cleaning of high traffic and high risk areas such as door handles will now be twice daily.
- Disposable hand towels will now be in every toilet.
- Bar tables and chairs will be cleaned and sanitised in-between users.
- Staff will use disposable gloves when cleaning and collecting bar glasses.
- Team players will be asked not to attend if they are feeling unwell.
- All staff have been offered guidance on safe working practices including cleaning and reporting responsibilities, personal hygiene and hand washing, and how to keep people safe.
We hope you will join us in keeping our environment safe for all users. Please sanitise your hands using the wipes provided upon entry to the clubhouse.
