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Pickering FC
COVID-19 Update
June 19, 2020
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June 19
th
2020
Dear PFC Family,
This week our Club made great progress towards a return to the field. We don’t take this statement lightly and believe that parents will see during the course of our Return to Play educational webinars that there is much to be done by the Club, Parent, Player and Coach during these early stages of our return.
The steps toward our Return to Play strategy have so far included:
- Development of our own PFC Return to Play Strategy in alignment with Public Health and sport specific guidelines. We assessed our strategy alongside the guidance document provided by Ontario Soccer and made some adjustments to further protect Members and facility users.
- Completion of the Canada Soccer/Ontario Soccer Return to Play Assessment – where we scored as Low Risk Level.
- Presentation and Approval of our PFC Return to Play Strategy by the PFC Board.
- Presentation of the PFC Return to Play Strategy to Club Staff.
- Sharing of our Return to Play Strategy with City of Pickering senior staff.
- Presentation of the PFC Return to Play Strategy to OPDL Parents.
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Yesterday evening we presented the Return to Play Strategy for the first time to our OPDL Parent group. There were a handful of questions at the end that we were happy to field as it provides reassurance to all and ensures clarity in our protocols for the future.
In our webinars next week Members will hear about the three key components to our Return to Play Strategy:
- Pandemic Policy
- Return to Play Procedures
- Communications
As this is still an active situation the strategy will be adjusted as further information becomes available from our football governing bodies, municipal government or from our own experiences as we assess each day. Our Return to Play plan will expand to include Indoor guidance in due course.
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You will recall the appeal we shared with you a month ago from Janna Francis, one of our soccer parents. Janna has strong connections with the El Tigres community in Mexico and appealed for donations to help a community hit badly during this pandemic. We heard this week from Janna that two generous families had donated over $200 combined and that had helped with the purchase of care packages for many, many families. We want to sincerely thank those families for making us #PFCProud.
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DON’T FORGET!
Our Virtual All Abilities Program is now on Tuesdays and run from 6:30 - 7:30 pm. Tammy will send out a reminder each Monday. If any of our coaches, volunteers, athletes or parents would like to assist with programming on one of our upcoming dates, please let me know ASAP.
- Tuesday June 23 - Theme: Summer Solstice, 6:30 - 7:30 pm
- Tuesday June 30 - Theme: Mexican Fiesta, 6:30 - 7:30 pm
As a Club, Pickering FC has worked hard to provide innovative school programs, multi-sport flexibility, ‘nation-leading accessibility’ and localised playing opportunities. We know, and want, to continue doing more to serve the community as we focus on developing great people, who just happen to be great players. With one eye on the 2020 Indoor season we welcome your thoughts on what that might look like. Would multi-sport sessions interest you or more drop-in session for all ages? Share your thoughts at:
communityprograms@pickeringfc.ca
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As a Club we wanted to share a big thank you to you. Early on in this pandemic we were alerted to rumours of players out on the fields ignoring Provincial and City of Pickering restrictions. Board and Staff did our due diligence and carried out random checks at fields to make sure this wasn’t the case and we’re happy to tell you we didn’t see anything to cause us concern. Our real respect comes from the fact that the adherence to these restrictions has carried on through the past 100 days.
Now will come the toughest time and where we really need to maintain mutual respect. Our Return to Play strategy includes a phased-in approach so we can make sure our older more experienced players adhere to the routines before we bring our youngest players back. This will cause temptation for everyone to flow onto the fields but we’re asking for a bit more of your time. Anyone training players outside of our Return to Play strategy will be doing so without permits and therefore without insurance.
Families and people within your bubble are encouraged to get outdoors for a kickaround but anything that looks structured will be addressed through club discipline.
Don’t forget, our
specific COVID-19 page
on the website is your constant source of information for our weekly updates and our Return to Play (RTP) plan.
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This week the PFC Board approved the planned Return to Play Strategy and a key part of that strategy is our PFC Pandemic Policy - our commitment to identifying and addressing future risks. The policy will become yet another example of club leadership to help protect our Members and the Club at large. It will be reviewed annually and is an adaptation of a Sport New Zealand template.
Additionally, our technical staff in consultation with others around the Province felt the ‘Phases’ and ‘Stages’ being promoted were confusing to parents, players and staff. We will therefore be using a more distinct naming convention of
Return to Train
,
Return to Play
and
Return to Compete
. They will become common phrases over the coming weeks and months.
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Until we are all back on the pitch please make use of our Recreational Virtual Training options.
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This new program is being launched as an extension of our current Active Start virtual sessions, where we will be releasing a 6-week video series focusing on development and physical literacy!
Every Monday a new video will be released to our Active Start players. Each video will be 10 to 15 minutes and can be accessed on demand throughout the entire program. Keep your eye out for a
special guest each week
, who will be guiding you through each video! At the end of the 6-week program, each participant will be awarded with a Certificate of Completion to recognize their commitment and hard work throughout the weeks!
The virtual program is available
FREE
of charge to any existing participants of our Active Start Program (U3-U7). If you are not currently registered but are interested in participating, we encourage you to register for our Outdoor Recreational Program using our
$1 down registration
(2 future installments subject to the season running).
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Our Grassroots Development (U8-U12) continues twice a week led by Coach Hollie (Tuesdays, 5pm) and Coach Trey (Thursdays, 5pm). Details are available from your Head Coach and players are welcome to join in on both sessions.
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If you have any inquiries or questions regarding the program, please contact our Grassroots Director via email at
grassroots@pickeringfc.ca
We’re looking forward to launching this exciting new program and offering soccer resources to our members during our time away from the field.
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Transparency and Integrity
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As a not-for-profit organization our money is very closely accounted for and we hope to get member and community support as we work through this situation.
o
Indoor Competitive
Teams are currently being surveyed with regard to the remainder of their Indoor Season fee with three options open to them: Donate – Defer – Refund.
- Competitive Outdoor seasons are continuing to be planned by our Leagues and therefore our staff assess the cost/deliverables as the picture becomes clearer. We continue to hear provisional plans from OPDL and DRSL. Our Return to Play presentations will outline the latest information.
- Outdoor Recreational season will run and meet its objectives of a 14-game season with some festival type and/or multiple games in a week. We have contingency plans set for a July 1st or August 1st start date. The Clubs ‘Dollar Down’ registration is now open with a 2-part payment plan.
League 1 Ontario and the Ontario Women’s Soccer League are the only two leagues to date that have confirmed their cancellation for the Outdoor 2020 season.
The Club has, and will, communicate every week (since March 19
th
), in order to keep you, our members informed during this tough time. For the most up-to-date information please remember to follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook or visit our
COVID19 webpage
.
Stay safe.
Matt Greenwood,
Executive Director
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