Roadmap to Return
Paul Hildreth • 11 March 2021
The latest bulletin from Global VX regarding the restart of play ...
Global VX Additional Covid-19 bulletin, March 5th 2021
This bulletin reflects on the ‘roadmap’ issued by the Government regarding the country getting back to normal after Covid.
Please note, the ‘roadmap’ is not fixed and each step will depend on the evaluations of four factors
• the vaccine deployment programme continues successfully
• evidence shows vaccines are sufficiently effective in reducing hospitalisations and deaths in those vaccinated
• infection rates do not risk a surge in hospitalisations which would put unsustainable pressure on the NHS
• the assessment of the risks is not fundamentally changed by new Variants of Concern
Only if these conditions are met will progress be made to the next stage in the roadmap.
The key dates for sport are:
March 29 – Part of Phase 1. Outdoor sports facilities such as tennis and basketball courts, and open-air swimming pools, will also be allowed to reopen, and people will be able to take part in formally organised outdoor sports.
April 12 – Phase 2. Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms will also reopen (but only for use by people on their own or in household groups)
May 17 – Phase 3. Organised indoor sport allowed.
June 24 – Phase 4. No legal limits on social contact.
Here in more detail:
Step 1 - March 8, and March 29 at the earliest.
From March 8, under-18s can take part in sport at school as part of the reopening of educational settings from that date, or as part of wraparound care.
From March 29, the second part of step one, outdoor sports facilities can reopen. These can be used by groups of up to six people, with those from different bubbles adhering to social distancing.
Organised adults and children's outdoor sports can also return at this stage, and will not be subject to gatherings limits.
Step 2 - April 12 at the earliest
Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms can reopen, but only to be used alone or as part of a household group.
Children will be able to attend any indoor activity, including sport, regardless of circumstances.
The roadmap also sets April as the date when pilot events will begin to test out how enhanced testing and other measures can allow for the safe return of spectators to events without the need for social distancing.
Step 3 - May 17 at the earliest
Crowds can return to sports venues. For larger outdoor seated venues this could mean as many as 10,000 people; for smaller outdoor venues it would be 4,000 maximum or 50 per cent capacity, whichever is lowest; for indoor venues it would be 1,000 maximum or 50 per cent capacity, whichever is lowest.
Organised indoor sports for adults could also resume.
Step 4 - June 21 at the earliest
Full capacity venues possible dependent on the success of pilot events. At that step, the intention is to "remove all legal limits on social contact".
What does this mean for VX?
If you work in schools – contact the school to check their timescale for restarting VX, whether it is in school time or as after school clubs.
Phase 2 April 12: Indoor sport has not restarted but children can attend any indoor activity including sport therefore junior sessions can restart. However we strongly recommend that the Covid precautions that were in place before are maintained.
Phase 3 May 17: Clubs can restart their adult sessions. We strongly recommend that the Covid precautions that were in place before are maintained at this stage.
The proactive and inspirational patron of VX Kenya is very keen to see VX spread through schools in Kenya and then into the rest of East Africa. He has just messaged to inform us that they will be showcasing VX at high profile school games that are to be launched by President Rutto. Kenya is to host the East Africa High Schools Games in Western Kenya - there will be participants from Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan and Tanzania. We hope this goes well and VX experience the usual response!
The team in Hong Kong continue to push forward with the sport and we are delighted to hear that they were one of the sports featured in the Government's Sport for All event. If you remember VX Hong Kong hosted the most recent VX World Championships and this gave a great boost to their efforts. Our thanks go to the team in Hong Kong for their hard work in growing and developing the sport.
I have been working closely with some organisations in Africa, predominantly Kenya and Uganda. I did a lot of work with the inspirational Cosmas Nabungolo who was principal of St Peter’s Boys’ School in Mumias. Cosmas has now moved to St Joseph’s nearer Nairobi and is working hard to improve the school and the provision to his young charges. Cosmas has worked hard to develop VX in Kenya and, as you can see, is keen to develop it further and spread it further through East Africa. As part of this he wishes to obtain digital cameras and equipment and, if possible, a drone Is there anyone out there who has any such equipment lying unused and unwanted? It could be put to very good use in Kenya. If you are in a position to help, please get in touch Many thanks
You probably don't know but VX was actually launched at the Youth Sport Trust Conference in Feb 2006, in its previous guise as Rock-it-Ball. We attended several YST Conferences but hadn't been back for several years until last year where we met Lucy from PE Office. This year Global VX were back - and Lucy came to join them on the stand. The conference itself was great and having Lucy there was a great help. Not only that, the materials that VX and PE Office have created were available as a free download. VX created a lot of interest, we had several people throwing balls around and we made lots of contacts. Thank you to the YST for a great conference and to Lucy and PE office for their support
Last year at the Youth Sport Trust Conference we met Lucy from PE Office. She was interested to hear about VX and we had a good chat. She suggested we should collaborate on the development of VX materials and over the past year we have been doing just that. Between us we have developed a six week module with scheme of work, detailed lesson plans and video clips (filmed at our Regional Centre of Excellence, Outwood Academy, Kirkby - thanks, guys!). The resources are free to download from PE Office - just click this link and follow the instructions: https://zurl.co/XgArD We are delighted with this new relationship and look forward to working more with PE Office in the future.
VX is making great strides in Kenya under the leadership of it's inspirational patron Mr Cosmas Nabungolo. In order to support this we were looking forward very much to welcoming two Kenyan players in January so we could qualify them as coaches and give them a thorough VX education. We had a full programme planned including coach qualification, going into schools and VX clubs. We also had sessions planned with some of the top players. We had written letters of support in which we undertook to provide accommodation and subsistence over here and to cater for all their travel needs. We guaranteed to collect them from the airport and then return them to the airport at the end. We found out today that the visas have been refused - on the grounds that (a) they didn't demonstrate enough of a tie to their home country and (b) they don't earn enough therefore the bureaucrats decide they probably aren't going to return to Kenya. One of the girls is a businesswoman with investments and her bank statements have helped people get visas to the US. Knowing it was going to be cold she had bought a whole load of warm clothes and is now well out of pocket. Let's contrast this with what happens to people who come across in rubber dinghies illegally - they are accommodated in 3* or 4* hotels, given smartphones, food, spending money and free access to immigration lawyers. They are also provided with free medical and dental care on site. We are told this costs the country £41,000 per year per person. Like most bureaucrats this lot want an easy life - dealing with the hordes of illegal immigrants is too much like hard work so, to 'show they are tackling immigration' and to go some way to meeting their targets they take the low-hanging fruit, the people who are trying to do things legally, the right way. They're an easy target and this isn't the first time this has happened to us as we try to grow the sport abroad. We have been hit with many problems as we have tried to grow VX but the single biggest obstacle to our development has been - bureaucrats. We are very sorry for the two young ladies who were due to come over and who were excited to spend a couple of weeks gaining a VX education. Girls- we can only apologise.
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VX has entered into a collaboration with PE Office to produce teaching materials for VX. The first will be a 6-week module of lesson plans with video clips to accompany. We have spent time with the guys from PE Office filming teaching points and skills & drills for the first batch of resources. You can find PE Office at https://peoffice.co.uk For any purchases made through PE Office there will also be an additional discount over and above the standard education discount. vXciting times ...
We have just heard from Global VX that the 2024 V2 World Championships that were due to be held in Uganda have unfortunately had to be postponed until 2025. This is due to circumstances beyond the control of Global VX. Global send their apologies to the VX Community and look forward to seeing everyone in Uganda in 2025.
This is where it all started. VX, or Rock-it-Ball as it was called then, was launched at the Youth Sports Trust Sports Colleges Conference in Feb 2005 where it was an immediate hit! This was in the days of Sports Colleges, School Sports Partnerships (SSPs) and Partnership Development Managers (PDMs). PDMs couldn't get enough of it - it ticked all their boxes. Best of all was it helped increase participation as it is a sport that is accessible to all. Suddenly there was something for the less-sporty kids. PDMs and schools all over the country adopted the sport at a rate of knots. The YST loved the values of the sport and included it in a number of their programmes including TOP Activity that was supported by Sainsburys. Since then the landscape has changed - no more SSPs and PDMs. There has been changeover of staff and some schools have the equipment but no longer know what to do with it. Even though the landscape has changed VX has made amazing progress: a presence in 26 countries clubs, leagues, tournaments different versions international competition - test match series, annual singles World Cup, 4-yearly team world cup ... The BBC called it 'the best sport you've never heard of' - If you're going to be at the conference why not pop along and see Global VX on stand NGB15 and find out what all the fuss is about - and ask them about the conference discount!
