Update from England Hockey
Posted by Eileen Edwards on 8 July 2020
As part of England Hockey’s Return to Play Roadmap we made a commitment to regularly review the latest government guidance. With the announcement of the government alert level moving to Level 3 and significant lifting of the lockdown restrictions in the last week and with more from early July, the situation continues to evolve quickly.
At this stage the Return to Hockey remains at Step 2 (socially distanced training). However, the rate of change of lifting of restrictions indicates that movement to later steps may still be possible early enough to allow the season to commence. Therefore, at this time we are continuing to recommend that clubs plan for a normal season.
We fully recognise that different clubs face different challenges, and this is being taken into account in our decision making. We expect that access to facilities is likely to improve over coming weeks as more leisure provision reopens but some pitches may not be accessible for some time yet. We encourage clubs to keep in touch with their England Hockey Relationship Managers. As we develop advice and guidance it will also be shared through them.
Finally, there is more guidance available from other organisations in terms of Returning to Play and we will update our information next week with references and links to relevant information. We will also continue to develop alternative options for the structure of the season and ways to engage with hockey, so we can be prepared for all scenarios.
For all the latest information about hockey’s Return to Play, including details of the Roadmap, please visit our Covid-19 advice pages here.
