MJLL announced on Tuesday that teams will begin taking the field on May 3 and plan to run a modified season until the end of June. There is one massive caveat, though -- no games will be played until the provincial government relaxes ongoing restrictions designed to curb the third wave of the pandemic.
It means that for the first two weeks of the season, minimum, Little League teams will be training, practicing and scrimmaging within the team only, with the focus on preparing for when games can resume.
Here are some of the guidelines MJLL revealed on www.mjlittleleague.com:
- Practices will be restricted to one team per diamond and scheduled, with the schedule being released later this week..
- Maximum outdoor gathering limits will be adhered to, currently at 10. While the group maximum is 10, they can be two separate groups of 10 on a diamond at a time, provided they can be separated by five meters. Where a team and coaches have more than 10, they will be split between the infield and outfield.
- To accommodate two practices weekly and one team per diamond, we will have two time slots per diamond per day, with a team getting one of those time slots. Specific times and lengths will be part of the schedule coming soon.
- Where possible, physical distancing will be observed, with a minimum of two metres of space between individuals. Areas where people naturally gather, like team benches, bleachers, will be set up and used in a way that follows physical distancing requirements.
- There will be a sign in sheet for each player, family / friend who drops off the player, volunteers and or anyone else who attends. As usual, the sign-in process is to facilitate contact tracing should an outbreak occur.
Disinfecting and cleaning procedures that were in place throughout last season will once again be followed in 2021.
For more information on the return-to-play plan and COVID-19 regulations in place, visit http://www.mjlittleleague.com/content/covid-19.
