Please read…<\/p>\n
Dear Junior Rugby players, parents, coaches, managers, referees and all others who support our game,<\/p>\n
I\u2019m sure you, like me, wondered if we would get to the point where we are now about to kick off our 2020 Friday Competition, Sunday Competition and Girls\u2019 Frosty 7s Competition. This has been a momentous year and all of us at SJRU are incredibly grateful to you and all the volunteers at your club for your patience and persistence as we worked through getting rugby going this year. We are just thrilled that around 10,000 kids will be playing rugby this weekend!<\/p>\n
With all that has happened you can expect things to be different this year. As much as we want to see kids playing rugby, the health and safety of all participants is the most important thing. Whether you are at your home club or visiting another, all of our clubs are implementing the COVID-19 protocols we have developed, consistent with NSW Dept of Health requirements. It is only by respecting these protocols that we are able to play rugby so we ask that you follow them carefully. <\/p>\n
Key requirements you will find when you get to a match venue are:<\/p>\n
Please make sure only one adult comes with each player. As much as we love family and friends supporting our kids play, we must keep attendances down at this time. Anyone who volunteers as a coach, manager, match official, ground marshal etc is allowed in addition to one parent per player (and thanks for your efforts!).
Every player should bring their own water bottle, clearly marked as theirs.
Everyone should record their attendance on arrival. Players and officials will be already recorded in the Xplorer App but we ask that all spectators and other participants sign in their attendance at the ground and we also encourage you to use the COVID Safe App.
At the ground you must practise social distancing, ie keeping at least 1.5m from others not in your own family. Host clubs will have officials and visual indicators to help you with this so please follow all instructions from the host club officials \u2013 they are there to help!
When your child has finished playing, please leave the ground as soon as you practically can.<\/p>\n
For the matches themselves, we have made the focus this year all about enjoyment and participation. We have changed the way we normally run our competitions to help support this and we encourage you to support everyone on the field in a positive way. Everyone involved in rugby, including all spectators, are bound by the Rugby Australia Code of Conduct. In particular this includes respecting the referees and match officials at all times, especially our young and developing match officials. Rugby is proud of our culture of respect and inclusion so we will treat inappropriate behaviours very seriously.<\/p>\n
In what has been a strange and challenging year, it\u2019s a great relief to get our boys and girls out on the field. We can\u2019t wait to hear that first whistle blow and look forward to seeing their exhausted but happy looks on their faces as they come off after a great game. <\/p>\n
See you around the fields!<\/p>\n
Anthony Hunt
Chair, Sydney Junior Rugby Union<\/p>\n