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COMMUNITY RUGBY LEAGUESTAGE 3 GUIDANCE

As we move from Stage 2 to stage 3 in our Return To Play (RTP) Roadmap and in accordance with the action plan we are looking to reintroduce non-contact variations

of the sport Touch, Tag and facilitate larger group training, that will incorporate Touch and Tag games within the sessions.

1. INTRODUCTION TO STAGE 3 (NON-CONTACT VARIANTS)

• The re-introduction of non-contact Tag Rugby on 7th August will allow RFL partners Try Tag Rugby to introduce a shortened summer season.

• Touch RL is mainly delivered by Professional Club Foundations or via small locally organised leagues. Whilst this activity with rule modifications will be allowed under this action plan, the RFL organised national events will not take place this year. All Touch RL activity will take place locally and community clubs delivering within a community club setting will be expected to comply with the amended Touch rules in place. (As laid out in the RFL Social RL Operational Manual – With the additions of Social Distancing as instructed through government guidelines)

• Prior to 10th August 2020 under Government guidance rugby league activity was restricted to small group socially distant activity. Delivering such small group sessions does place volunteers under considerable pressure, especially those dealing with younger age groups. The introduction of larger numbers of players at training and increasing the type of activity is significant in keeping our players who will have not played much, if at all this season, active and engaged until such time as they can return to contact activity.

2. STAGE 3 BACKGROUND TO NON-CONTACT VARIANTS (NON-CONTACT VARIANTS)

• This section explains our mitigation strategy to reduce the risk based on the Individual “team risk exposure framework” assessment of the variations of Rugby League.

3. MITIGATION STRATEGY

We already have many Rugby League teams back training, adhering to social distancing in groups of up to 6.

Using the team risk exposure framework, we have broken down the aspects of a regular Rugby League training session. These have been categorised into the 3 levels of risk, set out in the table at the start of the next page.

In regard to training for Rugby League, it is commonplace to incorporate decision making activities, with active defenders or small sided games such as Touch or Tag, where active defenders initiate ‘tackles’ by either touching another person’s body [ball] or pulling of a tag at arm’s length. There are no high-risk factors involved in these versions of our sport. There would be limited if any face to face exposure and any such instances would be fleeting in nature. There are a few occasions in Touch/Tag games where the Play the Ball gets close to being longer than 3 seconds but does not create a face to face situation. This is due to the immediate retreat of the defender to a position of greater than 2m from the touch or tag.

Each training session would require a Covid Officer, or representative of the “committee” to ensure the RFL recommendations are carried out effectively. In addition, notification of all training sessions is required to be sent to the RFL (competitions@rfl.co.uk) further to the Community Game Guidelines.

The role of the Covid Officer in each team would be to:• Ensure all players have complied with

any requirements that have been imposed as a condition of returning to activity e.g. a health questionnaire.

• Be responsible for recording who is playing for their team that session to support track and trace.

• Check on the health of each player and ensure anyone who displays symptoms does not travel to the venue / does not participate in a match and returns home to self-isolate.

• Communicate the latest COVID policies/procedures to their teammates.

• Registration & DataUsing Sports TG (LeagueNet) and the

RFL’s league management and registration processes, Sports TG (LeagueNet) will create a new field and opt in email link. All players are required to sign a waiver / opt in prior to training taking place. This waiver would be a blanket waiver and not be required for every match and/or event.

In addition, each team coach/manager will be required to update ahead of each training session who is attending and pre-determine the small group training schedule accordingly. The community club will then have an exact record of who participated in each session and the level of activity that took place. We will enforce this with sanctions for teams or individuals who do not comply.

Cleaning & Sanitising• Balls are cleaned by coaches, managers

or Covid Officer at start, end, and in between medium risk activities.

• At the end of each night, the coach, team manager or Covid Officer should ensure all equipment (e.g. balls, cones etc.) is sanitised thoroughly.

• Players should bring their own hand sanitizer for hand hygiene between medium risk activities.

• Players should adhere to strict social distancing outside the training session.

• Players should bring their own water bottle to training and not under any circumstance share.

Training Classification • To allow training back in large groups the

proposed guidance and amendments below must be adhered to including allocated levels within sessions and associated time limits as indicated in the table below.

• Activity should be limited to low and medium risk activities only. Considerations to be given for the perceived risk rating of the activity. Within a 40 - 60-minute session - no more than 20 minutes can be used for the medium risk activities:

4. TRAINING

4. TRAINING

The RFL’s Tag Ruby League is run in partnership with Try Tag Rugby. As well as having over 10,000 participants (40% female) through the UK.

Try Tag Rugby predominantly organise leagues, that is where groups of friends or work colleagues enter a team to compete weekly in one 40 minute fixture, mostly in the mixed format (where men and women play together), but also in the men’s and women’s formats. As a social sport, teams generally just play each week and don’t train. Try Tag Rugby plays a vital role in the ongoing physical and mental health of their young adult participants, mostly aged between 20-40. Matches are played in formats ranging from 5-a-side through to 8-a-side. Other Try Tag Rugby events include one day tournaments, Free Taster Sessions, and organised coaching sessions.

Each Try Tag Rugby League venue will have a Venue Supervisor acting as the COVID-19 officer. Their job will be to deal with the logistics of teams leaving and arranging and do spot checks on who is playing in each fixture. The COVID-19 officer will work with the appointed referees and players to provide the necessary sanitation of all equipment. The COVID-18 officer will be a part-time employee who will be provided with training and guidance on how to carry out the plans.

Test & TraceSpawtz is Try Tag Rugby’s league management and registration process. Accurate player data including full name, email address and phone number is collected upon registration.

Spawtz have already developed functionality for the return to play of sport in New Zealand where each captain/team organiser can update ahead of each fixture who is playing, and if necessary, revise this the following day. This provides an exact record of who participates in each game. Try Tag Rugby will back this up with strict punishment (be it league points or removal from the league) for teams who have incorrect fixture data or incomplete registration data.

Through these measures, an accurate and effective database will be available if required for Test & Trace purposes.

Pre-attendance Official Symptom Check & Adherence to Measures

A communications plan will be carried out to highly publicise and encourage a culture of self-assessment, to ensure anyone who displays symptoms does not travel to the venue / does not participate in a match and returns home to self-isolate.

Participants will be made aware of any increased risk associated with taking part in activity, based on the assessment undertaken for this document. Spawtz will create a new field and opt in email link. All players will be contacted and asked to sign a waiver / opt in. This waiver would be a blanket waiver and not be required for every match and/or event.

Try Tag Rugby’s administration team and Venue Supervisors will ensure players are adhering to the necessary measures. A code of behaviour, including sanctions will be communicated to all players.

Arrival & Department at the Venue

The principle of “Get in, Play, and Get Out” will apply.

Players and teams should not arrive pitch-side at the venue more than 15 minutes before the scheduled start of their match. This will still allow sufficient time for players to warm up and avoid the risk of injury. With Tag Rugby being a social sport, most players already arrived changed and ready to warm up, but this will be further encouraged.

Try Tag Rugby will work closely with venues to have separate entry and exit points to the playing area. In open parks, teams will be directed to alternate sides of the pitch for timeslots i.e Game 1 – the two teams set-up their bags and enter from the east side and south side. Game 2 – teams enter from the west side and north side.

5. TRY TAG RUGBY

Hence all players must enter the playing area through the allocated entry point only. No teams will be allowed on the designated pitch until the previous teams have left. No shared warmup balls will be provided, and the match ball must not be touched until it has been sanitised between matches.

Where possible game times may be staggered in larger venues, to minimize the amount of people arriving and departing at the same time. However, if each team has a designated waiting area around the pitch, this shouldn’t be necessary.

The Captain only must approach the Venue Supervisor/COVID-19 Officer to find their allocated pitch, team meeting point and collect their match tags.

Teams will be asked to leave the venue as quickly as possible – hanging around the venue with teammates after will be discouraged.

Players will be encouraged to shower as soon as they get home.

Players will be encouraged to refer to the latest PHE guidelines for travelling too and from venues, i.e only to travel in cars with players from the same household.

Players will be required to sanitise their hands prior to commencing any activity at the venue and at the conclusion of the matches.

Further League Regulations • Players will not be permitted to register

for multiple teams on the same evening, except for a small number of select leagues where different categories run on the same night (i.e. a mixed and a men’s or women’s league which take place at the same venue with some players playing two fixtures on the same evening).

• If a team is short of players, no ringers from other teams within the league can play in the fixture i.e. each team must play with their own unique squad. However, in exceptional circumstances where a team will be short of players and are able to source some players to play in their scheduled match, who are not from another team playing at that venue, then they can play subject to being registered by the team captain/organiser on the squad list.

Social Distancing in PlayIn Tag Rugby League where a “‘tackle”’ or ‘”tag” is initiated by pulling off a tag at arm’s length, there are no high-risk factors involved in this version of the sport. Whilst on occasion players would be closer than 0.5 metres, there would be limited if any face to face time and any such instances would be fleeting in nature. There are a few occasions in Tag Rugby League where the ‘play the ball’ can last longer than three seconds in a face to face situation. This can be mitigated through a rule amendment.

To mitigate this, we will amend the rules to make the “marker” (the person who has made the tag) to stand at least two metres away from the play the ball. To stand within two metres will be punished with a penalty. Referees will be instructed to use the full power of the rule book to police this new rule (penalise and then sin bin or send off for repeat offenders).

On the small number of occasions in a match where a player is tagged within two metres of the try line, instead of playing the ball at that location they will be asked to retreat two metres from the try line / defensive line. Pitch markings will have an additional side-line cone two metres from the try line so that referees and players can measure this distance accurately.

Further Game Changes would include: • Teammates remaining two metres apart

at all times during team talks or while on the side-line as a substitute etc. Team huddles will be avoided.

5. TRY TAG RUGBY

• Removal of the pre-game coin toss / rock paper scissors. The referee will decide which team kick-offs / goes to which end. This will free up time for the referee to undertake sanitisation of the ball between each fixture.

• Spitting will become an offence and will be dealt with by the referee penalising the offending player.

• No pre or post-match handshakes, or alternatives of any sort e.g. elbow bump

Use of Equipment

Try Tag Rugby will carry out the following to make sure all equipment is regularly sanitised.• Tags will be sanitised at half-time and

full-time of each match by the players. Each player will have their own set of tags which they will keep for the duration of the game. Each pitch will have a sanitisation station for each team. Tags will be washed by the COVID-19 Officer/Venue Supervisor at the conclusion of each daily league.

• Balls will be sanitised by the referee at the start, half time and at the conclusion of each game.

• At the end of each daily league, the COVID-19 Officer should ensure any other equipment which has been handled (such as cones or pitch makers) is sanitised.

• Teams should bring their own hand sanitiser for interchanging and half time.

• The practice of having Tag Rugby shorts available to be hired or bought at the venue will be discontinued. All Tag Rugby shorts will need to be purchased online in advance of play.

• Furthermore, players subbing on and off will strictly not be allowed to share Tag Rugby shorts.

• Equipment used during play will be sanitised using antibacterial wet wipes.

Match Officials, Coaches, Medical and Injury Treatment

The game play of Try Tag Rugby League always allows match officials to remain further than one metre from players. Hence refereeing Tag is can be classified as low risk.

Very few Try Tag Rugby teams have coaches but rolling substitutes are common. They will be encouraged to spread out along the side-line.

First Aid is carried out by the Venue Supervisor. Try Tag Rugby will provide face masks for the Venue Supervisors to wear when treating any injuries along with hand sanitiser.

After contact with an injured participant Venue Supervisors will be encouraged to clean their hands thoroughly with soap and water or hand sanitiser at the earliest opportunity. Records will be kept by the Venue Supervisor of any injury treated so that we have the details of each participant they come into close contact with for test and trace purposes. This is detailed in nightly duty reports which capture all the key updates from the matches this data is retained in Spawtz.

Facility Usage

Try Tag Rugby use many different types of venues such as wide-open council parks, schools or managed leisure facilities. Collaboration with venues will take place in regard to individual risks assessments and health and safety plans.

Social

Try Tag Rugby is very much a social sport and socialising has always been heavily encouraged. To address the risk around this, Try Tag Rugby will discourage players from socialising in the pub post game and continually remind all players that outside of playing they must adhere to the current government social mixing guidelines.

When finals take place, instead of having an end of season presentation at the pub, prizes for winning teams will be handed out pitch side.

5. TRY TAG RUGBY

Other Information & Further Communication Notes

Try Tag Rugby’s detailed communications plan featuring a mix of database, social media (Facebook, Instagram & Twitter) and verbal communication at the venue will address all aspects of the governments return to recreational sport framework. As well as changes outlined in the submission, the communication will address the following additional points:

• Travel to and from games• Social distancing & risky behaviour

outside of playing• Risks involved with shouting near other

players• Spectators adhering to current

government guidance on social mixing. Note – Spectators at Try Tag Rugby League events are rare.

• Everyone must bring their own water bottle – no sharing

• No sharing of other personal belongings.

5. TRY TAG RUGBY

Registration & DataUsing Sports TG (LeagueNet) and the RFL’s league management and registration processes, Sports TG (LeagueNet) will create a new field and opt in email link. All players are required to sign a waiver / opt in. This waiver would be a blanket waiver and not be required for every match and/or event. In addition, each captain / team organiser will update ahead of each fixture who is playing, and or revise this the following day. We will then have an exact record of who participated in each game. We would back this up with strict sanctions for teams or individuals who do not comply with this. Reminder emails will be set-up to prompt team organisers who have not updated their squad approaching any deadlines.

StaffingIf required, each venue will be mandated to appoint a designated Covid Officer. Their role will be to check and challenge all participants, deal with the logistics of teams leaving and arriving plus if necessary, record who played in each fixture. The Covid Officer will ask each team to leave their venue by a designated exit in a timely manner after each match. They will then invite the next teams to their designated pitch side area. Teams should not arrive at the venue more than 10 minutes before the scheduled start of their match.

Cleaning & Sanitising• Balls are cleaned by referees or Covid

Officer at the start, half time and at the conclusion of each game.

• At the end of each night, the Covid Officer should ensure all playing equipment (e.g. balls, cones etc.) is sanitised thoroughly.

• Teams should bring their own hand sanitizer for interchanging and half time.

• Teams should adhere to strict social distancing outside of the actual game.

Scheduling and Game ProtocolsThe principle of “get in, play and get out” will apply. • Game lengths can be reduced slightly to

facilitate a longer time interval between games if required. To compensate any loss in playing time we will reduce the half time interval and referees will decide which team kick-offs / goes to which end.

• Where possible there will be separate entry and exit points to the pitch. In open parks, Covid Officer will direct teams to alternate sides of the pitch for alternate timeslots. I.e. game 1 – the two teams set-up their bags and enter from the east side and south side. Game 2 - teams enter from the west side and north side. Hence all players must enter the playing area through the allocated entry point only**.

6. TOUCH RUGBY LEAGUE

• No teams will be allowed on the designated pitch until the previous teams have left. No shared warmup balls will be provided, and the match ball cannot be touched until it’s been sanitised between matches.

• Where possible game times may be staggered in larger venues, to minimise the amount of people arriving and departing at the same time. However, we feel if each team has a designated waiting area around the pitch, this should not be necessary.

• The Captain only, must approach the Covid Officer to find their allocated pitch & entry point.

• Each team is requested to bring their own hand sanitizer for interchange and at the conclusion of each half.

• Teammates must remain 2m apart at all times, during team talks or while on the side-line as a substitute etc. Team huddles should be avoided.

• Everyone brings their own water bottle – no sharing.

• No sharing of personal belongings. • Leave the venue as quickly as possible

- hanging around the venue with your teammates is not recommended.

• No pre or post-match handshakes, or alternatives of any sort e.g. elbow bump.

• Players not permitted to register for multiple teams on the same evening.

• Take a shower as soon as you get home.

**Note – in managed venues (such as a 3G football pitch in a cage), we feel it would be best to allow the teams onto the “football pitch” to gather in strategic places around the outside. I.e. by a particular side-line or try line. This would be preferable to having them all waiting outside of the cage, which would be a confined space or possibly even indoors. We are envisaging each venue may have their own specific guidance, however as an overall strategy we feel that having designated meeting points behind try lines or side-lines is the best way to keep each team separated prior to and after playing.

6. TOUCH RUGBY LEAGUE