Table tennis activity contributes to many health, social and economic benefits across the country and many of us will be missing the game, however it is vitally important that when activity is resumed, it does not compromise the health and safety of individuals or communities.
We will aim to respond to any changes promptly but we may have to wait for the Government to provide the precise details of their guidance and advice. We are, however, looking at various scenarios that we might find ourselves in and considering how table tennis can return safely.
Resumption of sport and recreation activities will be based on objective health information to ensure they are conducted safely and do not risk increasing the spread of Covid 19, taking into account the following factors.
- All decisions about resumption of sport and recreation activities must take place with careful reference to Government, Sport England and Table Tennis England advice.
- International evidence to date is suggestive that outdoor activities are a lower risk setting for COVID-19 transmission. There is a lack of data on risks of indoor sporting activity but, at this time, the risk is assumed to be greater than for outdoor sporting activity, even with similar mitigation steps taken.
- All activity must, at a minimum level, follow the guidance and advice outlined by Table Tennis England, Sport England and the Government. Clubs, leagues and community venues will need to factor in their own playing environments and make decisions that are right for their own club, league or community of players.
Five stage process
It is still unknown at this time how long each of these stages may last, but we have included several guidance documents, templates and posters to support clubs, leagues and coaches re-starting.
We continue to work through government guidelines and will take learnings from the return of club activity in stage 2 to determine the movement into Stage 3, 4 and 5 of the Table Tennis England roadmap.
We will be taking further considerations to move through these stages following the restart of club activity on July 25.
A guidance document for local leagues to consider is available and we are currently advising that local leagues and local or national competitions do not currently recommence and we anticipate that we will not move into stage 4 (local leagues re-starting) until the earliest of September 1, 2020.
We will provide an update by mid-August in terms of any movement towards stages 3 and 4. Please see the current guidelines and timescales connected to the return of local and national competitions by clicking here.
We will continue to provide more information, guidance and advice on each of the stages below as and when appropriate.
