BEACON HILL
FOOTBALL CLUB
COVID-19
MWFA Unfortunately Abandons 2021 Season
Dear Registered 2021 MWFA Players, officials and referees,
Firstly, the MWFA Board and staff, our 17 Clubs and the MWFRA sincerely hope that you are all keeping safe, healthy and happy throughout this Pandemic that continues to challenge us all.
This season, despite the challenges of 2020, saw our player number grow to 19,865 players, an increase of 1,400 players, which is an all-time record. However, the reality is that the current lockdown orders are in place until August 28 at the earliest. Even if the NSW Government was to end the lockdown on that date, indications from Football NSW are that the NSW Government will (quite rightly) follow last year’s plan in easing restrictions in a staggered manner meaning it is highly unlikely football matches will be able to be played until late September at the earliest.
Therefore, following emergency discussions with your Clubs, the MWFRA, Football NSW and the Northern Beaches and Mosman Councils, the MWFA Board made the difficult decision to abandon the 2021 season. While we would all dearly love to be able to play football on the weekends, the health and wellbeing of our players and the general community is paramount.
The MWFA Board, after consultation with the 17 Clubs and MWFRA also made the following decisions: -
2021 Champions
Champions will be declared in all competitive divisions (U12 and above) based on the competition tables as they currently stand, adjusted where required if teams in the same division have played a different number of games. The Champions in all divisions will be updated on the MWFA website this week.Champions and Participation Medals All teams declared Champions in the competitive divisions (U12 and above) will receive Champions Medals and all Mini-Roos players from U6-U11 will also receive their participation medallion. These will be sent to the Clubs for distribution during August.
Perpetual Trophies
All MWFA perpetual trophies will not be awarded for the 2021 season. This includes Player of the Year awards for the senior competitions, Presidents Trophy and other annual awards.
Financial Considerations
As with the 2020 season, the MWFA will be working with all stakeholders to understand what the impact of this shortened 2021 season is on the MWFA financial position after any cost savings are achieved. The MWFA will work towards achieving a breakeven financial position for 2021 and formulate a plan in conjunction with our 17 Clubs and the MWFRA on how any surplus funds are retuned to your clubs, the MWFRA and their members.
Promotion and Relegation (Men’s PL and AL1)
At the start 2021, the MWFA Board, after the recommendation of the 17 Clubs and the MWFA Competitions Committee, agreed the principles to allow for the promotion and relegation in 2021 should the season be impacted by COVID19 issues so as not to deny AL1 clubs the ability to be promoted for a second year running. With that in mind, Beacon Hill has been declared AL1 Champions for 2021 and will be invited to join the Premier League competition and Manly Vale has been relegated from the Premier League.
The MWFA is working through the logistics of a Playoff between the 2nd club in the AL1 competition (without a team in the 2022 Premier League) and the 2nd last Club in the 2021 Premier League with the intention to play that match if the NSW Government restrictions lift in time to allow a three week training period before any matches are played and the playoff finalised by no later than 30th October 2021.
Conclusion
The MWFA would like to take this opportunity to thank the volunteers at the clubs, YOUR CLUB, for working so hard for a second year in a row to get teams and players onto the pitch each weekend. It has been a very difficult time for those volunteers and we collectively salute each and every one of them. While we must unfortunately put the 2021 season behind us, now is a time to unite as a community to do our bit to defeat COVID 19 once and for all. Thanks again for your patience and understanding during these challenging times and we hope to see you all back for the 2022 season – a year free of the COVID-19 shadow. Please stay safe, happy and healthy. David Wilson (Chairman and the MWFA Board) and David Mason (MWFA CEO)
FROM FNSW - 16th July 2021
The NSW Government has announced that the stay-at-home orders that were put in place on Saturday, 26 June 2021, across all of Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour will be extended until 12:01am on Saturday, 28 August 2021.
Therefore, all football activities within Greater Sydney including the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, Wollongong and Shellharbour will remain suspended until 12:01am on Saturday, 28 August 2021.
Below is all information released during the COVID-19 Suspension of Football
What does this mean for Football in those areas?
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All games, training and other football activities remain prohibited;
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All Football NSW and Association competitions and leagues will remain suspended until 12:01am on Saturday, 28 August 2021; and
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Any football activity which takes place during this period is not sanctioned by Football NSW and, therefore, the Personal Accident insurance cover that is provided as part of a player’s registration may not apply.
What does this mean for Football outside of those areas?
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Community football can continue under Covid-19 safe conditions including having only one person per four square metres;
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Anyone attending football matches or training must wear a mask;
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People may remove their mask only for strenuous physical exercise (e.g. to warm up, train, play or referee), or when eating or drinking, and must put their masks back on at all other times, including spectators, coaches, managers, substitutes etc.; and
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Similar to earlier orders, there are other exemptions that apply including for children under 12, people with autism or intellectual disabilities and other health conditions.
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We are in regular contact with relevant government agencies, and we are all committed to keeping you informed and up to date in these rapidly changing times.
Our next scheduled meeting with the Minister for Sport is on Thursday 5 August 2021.
Please stay strong in these tough times, we understand your disappointment, we want to get back to playing, watching and enjoying the game we love as soon as restrictions ease.
8 July 2021
FROM BEACON HILL FOOTBALL CLUB COMMITTEE
No teams are permitted to TRAIN OR PLAY on Beacon Hill fields during the lock-down. Individuals may exercise on fields in groups of 10 or less (as per NSW government regulations) but this cannot include organised training skills, pop-up goals, or small-sided games. Please be aware that the club can be fined if people identified as Beacon Hill players are reported.
Week 1 of Term 3 Academy will not be held and a make-up session will be provided. Details to follow.
FROM DAVE WILSON, MWFA CHAIRMAN
Dear MWFA players and families,
In 2020 we rallied together to ensure football on the Northern Beaches made the best out of a tough situation and showed the power of community football.
It is time to adopt a similar mentality.
The extension of the lockdown means we need to have trust, understanding and flexibility to complete the 2021 Competition in a COVID-Safe environment.
Current situation – COVID-19 stay-at-home orders
As you are aware the NSW Government has announced that the stay-at-home orders for Greater Sydney will continue until 11.59pm on Friday, 16 July 2021.
Unfortunately, this means that all sanctioned football activities (training and matches) are banned under the Public Health Order until this time.
Re-start of competition and competition calendar for the rest of the season
The MWFA has been liaising with Football NSW and the Northern Beaches Council to put plans in place that will allow us to complete the 2021 competition calendar while working within the health and safety parameters of the Public Health Orders.
It must be said that at this time, there is no certainty that the return to play date will be Saturday 17 July but that is what we are working towards. Of course, we will adapt further if required.
We will have a draw in place for the weekend of 17/18 July (no Friday night games are allowed on 16 July) and if we can play under the new Public Health Order and conditions we will play.
Northern Beaches Council has confirmed that we are able to push the season back one week, with a new end date of the weekend of 4/5 September. At this stage it is our intention for this weekend to remain as Grand Final weekend.
MWFA is also working through the different competitions to identify dates (midweek and double headers) to catch up the remaining games that have been missed if possible.
The MWFA will not schedule any double headers or midweek games in the first week back (Saturday 17 July to Thursday 22 July) to minimise the risk of injury.
What will football look like when we return?
When we do return to training and matches, there is no doubt we will do so with some restrictions or guidelines, as has been foreshadowed for the broader community by the NSW Premier.
While it is impossible to know exactly what these are, what we know now is that community sport outside the Greater Sydney area will return this weekend under similar restrictions that we had the week before we went into lockdown. That is:
· Community football can continue under Covid-19 safe conditions including having only one person per four square metres;
· Anyone attending football matches or training must wear a mask;
· People may remove their mask only for strenuous physical exercise (e.g. to warm up, train, play or referee), or when eating or drinking, and must put their masks back on at all other times, including spectators, coaches, managers, substitutes etc.; and
· Similar to earlier Public Health Orders, there are other exemptions that apply including for children under 12, or people with underlying health issues.
It is expected we will receive further information following a meeting between Football NSW and the Minister for Sport and the Office of Sport on Monday (12 July). The results of this meeting will be discussed with all Club Presidents and delegates at our monthly MWFA Club Forum on Monday night (12 July).
As with 2020, we are going to need to show unity, trust and understanding to ensure community sport continues in these testing and rapidly changing times.
Thanks for your patience and understanding and hopefully we are back playing the game we love on Saturday 17 July.
Regards
David Wilson
MWFA Chairman
COVID UPDATE - 7 July 2021
Dear Clubs,
As I am sure you have heard, the NSW Government has declared the stay-at-home orders will continue for another week, meaning all football activities are suspended until 11.59pm on Friday July 16.
In a nutshell, the current conditions will apply for another week. We will be putting together some plans over the coming days that we will share ahead of Monday’s MWFA Club Forum (Zoom meeting) so Clubs are across the full picture in terms of finalising the 2021 competition calendar. This will include a combination of extending the season slightly and/or playing night-time midweek matches.
As always, if you have any questions, please get in touch with me.
Regards
Dave Mason
20 August 2020
Please click HERE for a letter from Dave Mason, CEO of MWFA, outlining the impact of the NSW Government changes regarding Community Sport
12 June 2020
COVID-19 Rule Changes from MWFA. These rules sit alongside the Playing Rules for 2020 and can be found here.
In summary
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U12 and above competition will run from 3 July to 26 Sept with the team with the highest number o points declared Major Premiers
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Final round weekend 3/4 October - teams will play final match based on their standings ie 1v2, 3v4, 5v6 etc. The winner of 1v 2 will be declared Minor Premiers.
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No promotion or relegation for PL/AL1
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u11 and below competition 3rd July to 3/4 October
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The limit on the number or players that can be borrowed will increase from 4 to 6.
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The number of times a player can be borrowed will increase from 4 to 6.
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U16s and below - will play Tuesdays (mixed) and Thursday (women during school holidays
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U18s and above will have scheduled night games during the holidays
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Final registration date is 31s July
11 June 2020
The NSW Government has today announced that from this Saturday (June 13), the number of people who can gather in public will increase from 10 to 20.
https://www.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/further-restrictions-to-ease-on-saturday
This changes our current training restrictions in terms of numbers ONLY
All other guidelines remain in place.
For clarity, this means that the following is now in play:
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The number of people allowed to train in a group lifts from 10 to 20
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Essentially teams can now train together as a group (except those with squads)
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It is up to the clubs as to whether they allow four groups of 20 on a field or simply split the field in half and have one team per half.
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We still need to adhere to all of the social distancing guidelines that we have had in place around sanitiser/non contact training/posters etc.
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You can not play games (even 10 v 10) before 1 July (when the restrictions around contact in training/games will be lifted)
10 June 2020
The NSW Sports Minister has announced that ALL community sport will return to play on 1 July. There will be guidelines. No change to training numbers until July 1 when new guidelines will be introduced.
2 June 2020
The NSW Government has today announced that Community sport can start from July 1 for players under the age of 18 ONLY. More details will be posted once they have been forwarded.
21 May 2020
The wait is over. FNSW and the NSW Government has given football clubs approval to resume training in line with the latest restrictions that have been relaxed across society, specifically the ability to start to exercise in groups of 10 (including the coach).
Beacon Hill Football Club will notify all coaches and managers of their approval to train and their training time as soon as possible.
Teams must wait for training time allocation from the club.
19 May 2020
Draft Guidelines for the return to training - FNSW
Following the relaxation of the NSW Government’s restrictions last Friday (15 May 2020) relating to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, Football NSW is pleased to provide the football community with a series of ‘Return to Training’ resources.
Whilst these resources, particularly the Return to Training Guidelines, have been developed along the principles stipulated in the Public Health Order and the latest government advice, they have not yet been formally ratified against the NSW Government’s Framework which the sports industry is yet to receive.
As such, these Guidelines are stamped DRAFT.
14 May 2020
MWFA Letter to Clubs COVID Update 14/5/20
Summary - possible return to training 20 May, awaiting FNSW directives. Training schedules adjusted so only 10 players per 1/4 pitch.
13 May 2020
Minutes from MWFA Clubs Forum
2nd May 2020
Further information n the return of football will be available after Tuesdays meeting between MWFA, FNSW and FFA after the announcements made by the Federal Government.
Federal Government Media Release
AIS Framework for rebooting sport - Summary
National Principles for the Resumption of Sport
30 April 2020
30 April 2020
24 April 2020
3 April 2020
Message from Dave Mason - CEO of MWFA
1 April 2020
Extension of the Suspension of Grassroots Football In Australia - FFA
27 March 2020
Message from Dave Mason - CEO of MWFA
19 March 2020
Board Decision 2020 Competition
FAQ
Message from Dave Mason - CEO of MWFA
17 March 2020
Cicular regarding Suspension of Football
Useful Links
9 April 2020 - MWFA Training Videos
Training videos for one or two people that can be undertaken by kids to stay fit and mentally alert while football is suspended. It has been designed and filmed by Manly United Technical Director Andrew Christiansen, who has been working his coaching staff and Eugene Lawrenz (MWFA Community Coach Development Manager)
http://www.mwfa.com.au/manly-united-player-skills-videos/
28 March 2020
Skills Hub for Players - PlayFootball
30 April 2020
COR - Insurance Information
13 May 2020
Minutes from MWFA Clubs Forum
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http://www.mwfa.com.au/return-to-play-training-exercises/http://www.mwfa.com.au/return-to-play-training-exercises/