Re-opening the bowling club

St Chads will re-open in a limited degree from Monday 15th June.

In accordance with Bowls England (BE) and government guidelines there will be restrictions in place concerning the clubhouse, playing, dress and behaviour. For the most up to date Bowls England guidance you can look here https://www.bowlsengland.com/coronavirus-guidance These restrictions are not up for debate, if you do not like them please do not complain as it will get you nowhere, we must do these or not open.

1. What you need to bring
   • Your own bowling equipment (bowls, shoes, etc.)
   • Hand sanitiser or gel. There will be a supply in the equipment shed in case you forget to bring your own but we don’t have an inexhaustible supply so please remember to bring your own if you have some.
   • Face mask. Please wear this all time you are within the bowling club area.
   • Gloves (optional).
   • Common sense.

2. Clubhouse
   • Facilities remain closed for the time being. No clubhouse (of any sport) is yet allowed to sell food or drink so the bar and kitchen are closed. You can bring your own food and drink.
   • There will be no facility for rubbish disposal, so you must take any rubbish away with you.
   • Toilets are permitted to be open by BE, but we are still assessing how to do this safely so for the moment ours remain closed. We know this is going to be difficult for some, but it just has to be for now.
   • This means the clubhouse remains closed, you should no need to enter the clubhouse and if this is breached then we will make sure that does not happen again. The only person who needs access at the moment is me and that is because of the green maintenance materials that are stored there and to do general clubhouse maintenance.

3. Play
   • Observe the social distancing guidelines and stay the recommended distance apart (currently 2 metres).
   • Use hand sanitiser before, during and after play.
   • Just turning up to play is NOT permitted. All attendance at the club to have a rollup must be booked online, this is a BE condition. We know that a few people do not internet access or email but they can arrange to play with another member who can book online. For how to book see below.
   • Although the government permits groups of up to 6 people from different households, to have a theoretical 18 people on the green is unmanageable given the current restrictions. Play therefore is initially limited to 2 people per rink or maximum 4 if it is only 2 households. This allows for a singles or pairs rollup.
   • Only play on the rink you have booked and only for your booked timeslot.
   • You should arrive at the club with your playing dress on, shoes to be changed at the side of the green. This includes bringing your bowls with you, you cannot go into the clubhouse to collect them (more on this later).
   • You must avoid touching any equipment belonging to another bowler.
   • Rink equipment
     • Rink equipment is in the righthand shed as normal. A key for this shed can be obtained from the keysafe which is located by the clubhouse shutter switch. This is a tumbler lock and the combination is available from Dave Jarrold or another club member. Please do not make the combination know to anyone who is not a St Chads member. If that were to happen and the contents of the equipment shed stolen, then we all lose out.
     • To minimize the risk of infection, only essential items should be utilized during any session. These are mat, bowls, jack, rink markers, gloves, scorecard (should be retained by one person only), bowling arm/lifter and bowling aids (for disabled bowlers).
     • Items which are considered non-essential and should not be used are scoreboards, bowls pushers, ditch markers, 2m distance sticks, chalk and measures (no measuring).
     • Contents of the rink boxes will be amended to ensure the right and complete rink equipment is available including 2 jacks.
       • Only 3 rink boxes are to be used, box 1 for rinks 1 or 2, box 3 for rinks 3 or 4 and box 5 for rinks 5 or 6. The boxes will contain the right numbers for the rink you are playing on.
     • Please DO NOT mess up the contents of each box by mixing items from one box with another. This will avoid unnecessary handling of other rink boxes.
     • Only one person on each rink handles the mat and whoever is not placing the mat, places the jack.
     • All equipment to be wiped down (including the jack) after play before it is placed back in its box. Outside of box to be wiped.
     • Unless someone is waiting to use a rink after you, you must put all the rink equipment back in the equipment shed.
     • Equipment shed door handle and key to be wiped down after equipment has been replaced. Keysafe tumbler should be cleaned with a wipe after the shed key has been replaced.

4. Dress code
   • For the duration that the clubhouse changing facilities are unavailable the dress code will be relaxed. The only stipulation of wear is that you must still wear flat bottomed shoes

5. Booking a timeslot
   • Online booking is through the club website, a link to the booking page is given at the end of this post.
   • Playing will consist of time slots of 40-minute duration. We are mandated by BE guidance to have a 20-minute gap between slots so each bookable slot is 1 hour.
   • There will not for the moment be a restriction on how many slots you can book in a week but please avoid booking consecutive slots unless you live more than 5 miles from the club. If you do, then you can book consecutive slots on the same rink (giving a 100-minute playing slot) to make it worthwhile travelling. If getting a slot does become a problem then we will have to restrict what you can book to ensure a fair distribution of slots for all members who wish to play.
   • Playing slots will be available every day from 2pm until 6pm. Morning are kept free for green maintenance.
   • To book a timeslot you pick your day and an available time, if a time is not shown then it has already been booked. Try another rink or another time.
   • We are mandated to leave a free rink between played on rinks which means either rinks 1,3 and 5 or 2, 4 and 6 depending on the day. The booking page gives you guidance on which rink you are booking (and colour and direction).
   • If you are making a booking for yourself and up to three others, it is your responsibility to ensure that the other players understands and agree to abide by the restrictions.
   • You cannot book a timeslot for another player if you are not going to be there at the same time and on the same rink. This is to avoid the possibility that the other player isn’t aware of or ignores the restrictions.

6. Over 70’s and those who are shielded.
   • If you are in the shielded group, then we ask you to not risk coming back to bowling at this time. The government has now permitted shielded people from leaving home to take some exercise, but they are at particular risk not necessarily of catching Covid-19 any more than anyone else but the probability of complications if they do catch it are far greater than anyone else. Come and watch if you want to but do not play.
   • Over 70’s are also considered at higher risk and again you should consider if this is the right time for you to come back to bowl but if you want to then you can. You do acknowledge that you are at higher risk and accept that risk.

8. Visitors and spectators
   • Visitors and spectators can come and watch bowling but their attendance must be in line with the government guidelines on social distancing and they must limit their stay for the timeslot they are watching. They should use seating in parallel with the play (i.e. if we are using rinks running N-S (carpark to allotments) then they should use seats on the E-W sides. This will ensure they are not in proximity of the bowlers if they step onto the bank.

Members who have their bowls, shoes and other clothing in the clubhouse will need to collect them if they want to play whilst the clubhouse is closed. If that is you them please let me (Bernard) know and I will arrange a timeslot to come and collect your gear. Obviously as the clubhouse is shut, you may not store anything in there. These restriction might seem to some to be excessive and over the top , but there is almost nothing here that are not part of the government and BE guidelines, if you don’t agree with them then please don’t raise it with the committee, we have to follow the guidance or not play at all. You are trusted to observe these temporary restrictions. There are plenty of eyes out there who are looking for breaches of current Covid-19 restrictions and if we do something that contravenes these and it gets reported then the council would be within their right to order us to shut or contact the police. If an infringement is spotted, then this will be pointed out once but if it is repeated then we will have to withdraw playing rights for that person or close the club again. Finally, for the link to the booking calendar click here or use the main menu ("ST CHADS INFO" > "Competitions" > "2020 Internal Competitions" > "Internal competition booking calendar") as shown below. Bernard Club Secretary.