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RETURN TO PLAY - COACHING SAFETY PLAN

To view entire Safety Plan document 

COACHING PROTOCOLS
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All coaches will receive training and documentation on the protocols and procedures of our Safety Plan. Each coach will be required to acknowledge (in writing) that they have received and understand the training material prior to engaging their team(s) on the field.

 

All coaches must:

  • As with players, coaches should be screened prior to arriving on the field.

  • Ensure the health and safety of players. Inquire how the athletes are feeling, send them home if they act or discuss feeling ill. If players are sent home, the coach must alert the Select Registrar and VP Select and give them details

  • Follow all established federal, state, and local protocols.

  • Ensure all athletes have their individual equipment (ball, water bottles, bag, etc.) and prohibit them from sharing anything. Equipment placement should be spaced at least 6 feet apart in the designated areas

  • The coach should be the only person to handle cones, disks, etc.

  • All training will be outdoors, and coaches must strictly enforce social distancing per the current phase guidelines. Physical contact should be discouraged, including slide tackles and shielding.

  • Players should not use hands unless necessary. Throw-ins should be eliminated or replaced with kick-ins.

  • Coaches must always wear a face mask per current phase protocol and social distance from players when required.

  • Wash and sanitize your own equipment after every session.

  • The use of scrimmage vests/pinnies is not allowed unless players bring their own, and it must not be shared with teammates.

  • Increase your communication with parents, they need to know what you are doing as a coach and club to maintain their safety.

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The Club has established the following policy regarding coaches exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or who suspect exposure:

 

If a coach suspects exposure to COVID-19 or is exhibiting any symptoms, he/she should:

  1. Immediately notify club officials, who are:

    • a. The Select Registrar

    • b. The VP Select

  2. Self-isolate for fourteen (14) days

  3. Review the COVID Case Positive document published by the Washington State Department of Health (linked at our website)

  4. Coaches must also be symptom free for at least three (3) days prior to returning to play. Player(s) may only return sooner if a medical provider provides written confirmation that the player(s) tested negative for COVID-19 and releases the player(s) in writing to resume training.

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POLICIES​
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As part of our response to COVID-19 and Return to Play, Bellevue United FC / Newport FC has created or expects to create several new policies. Many of these take effect immediately while others are timed to coincide with phase advancement. As coaches, please make sure you familiarize yourself with the new policies and help enforce them, if needed.

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NEW POLICIES, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY (PHASE 2)

  1. Illness or suspected Illness: If any player, coach, employee, or volunteer of Bellevue United feels sick, exhibits symptoms of COVID-19, or suspects direct exposure to COVID-19, they must stay away from practices, meetings, and any other activity that would bring them into contact with another Bellevue United person. In all situations,

    • a. Individual must self-isolate for fourteen (14) days

    • b. Immediately notify team and club officials.
    • c. Review the COVID Case Positive document published by the Washington State Department of Health (linked at our website)
    • d. Players must also be symptom free for at least three (3) days prior to returning to play.Player(s) may only return sooner if a medical provider provides written confirmation that the player(s) tested negative for COVID-19 and releases the player(s) in writing to resume training.
    • e. Bellevue United FC strongly encourages any individual who suspects they may have COVID-19 to seek advice from a medical professional as soon as possible.
  2. ​If anyone in an assigned training group—player or coach—is diagnosed with COVID-19, then the entire group must self-isolate from training for a total of at least fourteen (14) days. Players and coaches must also be symptom free for at least three (3) days before returning to play.Players and coaches who are tested for COVID-19 may return sooner, if a medical provider provides written confirmation that the player tested negative and releases the player in writing to resume training.
  3. Screening: Prior to being admitted to a field, all players and coaches must go through a screening process. This will include answering a few questions and may include a thermal temperature scan.
  4. Masks should always be worn. Players are excused from wearing a mask while they are on the field and actively training.
  5. Only coaches, authorized volunteers, and players are allowed on and around the training facilities. All other persons, including family members and guardians, are prohibited from loitering near the fields.
  6. NO TRAVEL. Until further notice, no team may schedule or attend any tournament or other team activity that requires air or train travel and/or requires an overnight stay. Additionally, all team activities (training, games, tournaments, friendlies) must be held within Washington State.
  7. No more than 5 players are allowed in a training area at the same time. Players who are grouped together must stay within the same group for the duration of Phase 2. While determining which team members will make up a group, the coach (and team manager if needed) should take into consideration teammates who carpool to/from practice and teammates who are socializing outside of the field.

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PHASE 3 POLICIES​

All policies from Phase 2 are still in effect unless specifically removed or changed

  1. The 5-player limit is lifted: Full-team practices may commence. Light contact is allowed; however, it should be kept to a minimum.

  2. No more than 50 people are allowed at a field. This count includes players, coaches, referees and spectators. Masks are required for everyone except for players who are actively training or playing

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...more policies may be added or changed as we progress through Phase 2. This is a very fluid time –we know it puts extra demands on our coaches in asking for the flexibility to deal with these changing times.

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PLAYER SAFETY
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Players and player families will receive instructions from the Club regarding personal safety and protocols in place during Phase 2. Instructions include the following:

 

Players Should:

  • Take temperature daily. If a player is feeling ill, has a fever above 100.3 degrees F, or is exhibiting any symptoms, please keep the player home and notify the club immediately.

  • Wash hands thoroughly before and after training, and any contact outside your home.

  • Bring and use hand sanitizer with you at every training session. Players should sanitize their hands at the beginning and end of each training session.

  • Players should avoid carpooling, if possible. However, if carpooling is done it should be limited to players on the same team and training in the same group for the duration of Phase 2. Please advise the team’s coach of carpool situations. Once a carpool group is established, please do not switch to a different carpool group.

  • Wear a mask before and after all training sessions. This protects others if you are unknowingly carrying the virus.

  • Do not touch or share anyone else’s equipment.

  • Bring your own ball to training and label it as your own.

  • Practice social distancing and place bags and other equipment in specified areas at least 6 feet apart from teammates’ equipment during sessions.

  • When possible, players should store their equipment in their bag//backpack when not in use

  • Wash and sanitize all equipment before and after every training session.

  • No group celebrations with players closer than six feet, no high fives, hugs, cheers, etc.

  • DO NOT share water. Keep water bottles in their own bag when not in use.

  • Tackling, shielding, and other forms of play that assume physical contact is prohibited until further notice.

 

The Club has established the following policy regarding players exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 or who suspect exposure:

 

If someone in your household or someone whom you know that your player(s) had contact with is diagnosed with COVID-19, then:

  1. Player must self-isolate for fourteen (14) days

  2. Immediately notify team and club officials

  3. Review the COVID Case Positive document published by the Washington State Department of Health (linked at our website)

  4. Players must also be symptom free for at least three (3) days prior to returning to play. Player(s) may only return sooner if a medical provider provides written confirmation that the player(s) tested negative for COVID-19 and releases the player(s) in writing to resume training.

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FIELD LOGISTICS AND PROCEDURES
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All coaches, players, and families will receive clear instructions about how fields will be setup during Phase 2 and the protocols and procedures related to each field.

 

GENERAL RULES

  1. Volunteers and coaches should park in areas that do not create congestion around the designated pickup/drop-off zones

  2. Drivers and any other non-players are always to remain in their cars. There will be zero tolerance for parents/guardians/etc. on the sidelines or in the general area of practice during Phase 2. This will be strictly enforced.

  3. Please do not arrive to the field more than 5 minutes prior to your player’s assigned start time. Please also make sure that you are prompt to be at the designated pickup zone ON TIME.

  4. Carpools should be limited strictly to teammates, and the group of players should always stay in the same carpool. This group should be communicated to the coach so that the group can be assigned to the same practice group.

  5. When being dropped off, players should wear their facemask prior to exiting the car and keep it on until training begins. Once training is over and players are preparing to return to the pickup zone, they should again wear the mask and keep it on until they are inside the vehicle. Masks should be stored in the player’s backpack during training.

  6. Fields will be setup by the assigned coaches for each practice. Volunteers should not be used for field setup; however, if it is necessary to have a volunteer perform this, all setup activity must be complete and the volunteer clear of the field prior to player arrival.

  7. Players are to place their equipment and bags in designated areas and no closer than six feet apart. If possible, all player equipment should be stored in their bags when not in use.

  8. Each field will have a screener who is tasked with greeting players as they arrive to the field. Players must check in with the screener prior to entering the field area.

 

In complying with the State and with Washington Youth Soccer, during phase 2 we will divide our training areas in a way that provides spacing for small groups of players and compartmentalization. Specifically, small fields will be divided into four quadrants of equal proportions and large fields may be divided into 6 sections if there is enough space. Each section will include a 10-yard buffer from other sections and provide a minimum of 1,000 square yards for each group of 5 players.

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