Purpose:  The purpose of this safety plan is to promote the health and safety of our league participants by providing guidelines for the ability to safely return to playing baseball and softball.

We all know the benefits of playing sports, including promoting physical and mental fitness.  Sports also provide a social construct and interaction which is crucial in a time of uncertainty for our athletes and participants.  In addition, sports can provide a template for young athletes to learn concepts of teamwork, leadership, work ethic, and integrity.

With these recognized benefits, it is important to offer an opportunity to play organized sports in a safe and healthy manner.  It is our intent to provide the following practices to be followed at Chamberlayne Little League baseball fields during our season of play.

Return to Play

First and foremost, all guidance, rules and regulations regarding the return to play must be followed as set forth by the national, state, or local government and health department.  As the Governor of Virginia is allowing returning to sports during Phase II of the Reopening of Virginia Plan, we will adhere to all local and league regulations to safely return participants to play baseball / softball.

Risk Management:

Manage

· COVID Coordinator:  Tracy Causey will serve as the COVID Coordinator to oversee all aspects of the COVID risk management plan including development of appropriate resources, implementation, monitoring, updates/changes, communications, volunteer training, regulatory compliance, and answering participant questions regarding COVID 19 concerns.

· Compliance with State and Local Guidelines:  CLL will make sure the league is in compliance with all state and local COVID guidelines including return to play dates and maximum group sizes.

· Training:  CLL will train all players and volunteers on appropriate cleaning and disinfection, hand hygiene, and respiratory etiquette.

· COVID Self-Reporting:  CLL will be familiar with and comply with all regulatory requirements, privacy policies, and information sharing regulations as regards to COVID-19 self-reporting of symptoms or positive tests by players or volunteers as well as by related family members with whom they have had close contact.

· Spread Out Scheduling Of Practice And Games: CLL will implement procedures to ensure there is enough time between practices and games to allow one team to vacate the fields before the next team enters as well as for proper sanitation of surfaces and other equipment.

Communications: CLL will disseminate information to all participants, i.e., volunteers, players, parents, and spectators about the COVID risk and practices that will be undertaken to mitigate risks.  Information will be disseminated by way of email, social media, coach meetings, and public announcements as appropriate.

· Self-Reporting Of COVID Symptoms: CLL will disseminate information to concerned parties about any COVID-19 incident while complying with all regulatory requirements and privacy laws.

· Meetings: CLL will consider canceling in-person volunteer meetings and replace with Zoom meetings or conferencing by telephone whenever possible in order to minimize COVID 19 risks

Pre-Practice / Game

·Stay Home When Appropriate: Players, volunteers, parents, and spectators will be instructed in communications to stay home when they are showing symptoms of COVID-19, have a temperature over 100.4 Fahrenheit, have tested positive for COVID-19, or have had close contact with a person with COVID-19.

· Symptom Checking: CLL will require all coaches to  conduct pre-event observation and/or questioning of all players and volunteers about the existence of any COVID symptoms including cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, diarrhea, feeling feverish or a measured temperature greater than or equal to 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit, or known close contact with person who is confirmed to have COVID-19.

· Temperature Check: Players, volunteers, parents, and spectators will be asked to take their own temperature before leaving the house and they should stay at home with any reading of 100.4 Fahrenheit or higher.

· No Congregation: Players and team volunteers should not congregate prior to a practice or game and should stay in cars until right before warm-ups for the practice or game and should avoid other groups that are leaving the prior practice or game.

· Team Check-In Process:  Team volunteers and players should continue social distancing during the team check-in process for practices and games. There should be a single point of contact for teams during practices or games.

· Disinfect Hard Surfaces: When arriving at team seating or designated areas, team volunteers should disinfect all hard surfaces such as benches, railings, and equipment racks.

Post-Practice or Game
Cleaning: Team volunteers will clean and dispose of all trash from player seating or designated areas when departing practice or games.

No Congregation: Players and team volunteers should quickly exit the practice or playing location after the event and go directly to their cars without congregating with other teams or spectators in common areas

 Social Distancing

• 6 Ft. Rule: All players, volunteers, parents, and spectators will be required to practice social distancing of 6 ft. whenever possible, especially in common areas.
• Pre And Post Practice/Game Social Distancing: Social distancing will be practiced by players and coaches during all team activities, instruction, explanation of rules, pre-game strategy, and post-game briefing sessions.
• Restructure Practices: CLL will request coaches/volunteers to restructure practices to the greatest extent possible to concentrate on conditioning, drills, skill-building, and limit close contact to a specified number of minutes during simulation drills and scrimmages.
• Pre-Game Warm-Ups: During pre-game, players and coaches should maintain the 6 ft. distance if possible, during warm-ups and drills and should only have close contact during actual game.
• Social Distancing Monitors: CLL will identify adult volunteer members to help maintain social distancing between players, volunteers, parents, and spectators (if allowed by state law).
• No Handshakes/Celebrations: Players and coaches should refrain from handshakes, high fives, fist/elbow bumps, chest bumps, group celebrations, etc.
• Waiting In Cars: Players and team volunteers will wait in their cars with parents/guardians until just before the beginning of a practice, warm-up or game instead of assembling in groups.
• Car Pools: CLL will discourage the use of carpools to transport participants who do not live in the same household.
• Spectator Social Distancing: Spectators should follow social distancing of 6 ft. whenever possible and should avoid being in groups of greater than 10 or up to 50 persons for games. Spectators will be encouraged to wear face coverings and wash hands or use hand sanitizer (70% alcohol) frequently.
• Off-Site Activities: CLL will ask all participants to avoid off-site team activity events such as swimming, team meals, etc.

Personal Protective Equipment and Personal Disinfectants

• Educate:  CLL will teach players and volunteers and reinforce the use of wearing cloth face coverings. Wearing face coverings is most critical when physical distancing is difficult.
• Face Coverings For Coaches And Volunteers: All volunteers will be required to  wear PPE such as face coverings and gloves whenever applicable.
• Player Face Coverings: CLL will require players to wear face-covering when not practicing or playing in a game.  Players will be allowed to wear face coverings during a game if they choose to do so as long as they don’t compromise the safety of themselves and/or all participants.
• Parent / Spectator Face Coverings: Parents and spectators should wear face coverings whenever they are at the park and in close contact with a non-family member.
• Don’t Touch Face: All persons wearing face coverings should be reminded to not touch their face covering and to wash their hands and/or use hand sanitizer (70% alcohol) frequently.
• Player Provided Hand Sanitizer And Wipes: CLL is asking all parents to provide all players with hand sanitizer for use between play periods as well as antibacterial wipes for disinfecting player equipment.
• Volunteer Provided Hand Sanitizer And Wipes: All volunteers should provide their own hand sanitizer for frequent use and antibacterial wipes for disinfecting hard surfaces and equipment.

Playing Equipment

• Spacing Of Player Equipment: Player equipment should be spaced accordingly to prevent close contact.
• Player Provided Equipment: Players will be encouraged to bring their own equipment and to not share with others. Player provided equipment should be kept separate and in individual bags or containers.  All Player provided equipment will be disinfected before sharing with another player.
• Limit Team Shared Equipment: The use of team shared equipment (e.g. protective gear, balls, bats, etc.) will be limited whenever possible and must be sanitized after each use if possible. Otherwise, limit use of team shared supplies and equipment to one group of players at a time and sanitize between use.
• Water Bottles: Water and sports drink jugs will no longer be provided by the league or team. Players and volunteers should bring their own water bottles to all team activities to help to reduce COVID 19 transmission risk. Individuals should take their own water bottles home each night for cleaning and sanitation. Visiting teams should also bring their own water bottles.

Facilities

• Foot Traffic Control: Appropriate signage will be placed around facilities to warn of the risk of COVID 19 and proper social distancing regulations, prevention compliance and reporting obligations.
• Water Fountains: All water fountains will be closed.  Participants are encouraged to bring their own water to remain hydrated. 
• Concessions: Concessions will be discontinued unless Henrico Parks and Recreation Dept authorize utilization.  In the event concessions will be allow to operate, precautions taken will include 6 ft spacing markers in concession lines between customers; volunteers will be instructed to not report to duty if they don’t feel well, have symptoms, or have a temperature; volunteers will be required to wear gloves and face masks; and steps will be taken to prevent cross contamination; and frequent sanitation of all surfaces.
• Rest Rooms: Signage will be posted to ensure social distancing remains in effect.  All will be asked to wash hands before returning to any event. 
• Cleaning/Disinfecting: CLL will depend on Henrico Parks and Rec Dept to clean the bathroom areas periodically.  CLL will have on hand cleaning solutions to provide additional sanitation if needed.

When Someone Gets COVID-19 Or Has Close Contact

·         CLL will ensure that volunteers and family members understand that any sick person should not attend any activities and that they should notify the COVID coordinator if they or any other staff member or player becomes sick with COVID-19 symptoms, tests positive, or has had close contact with someone who has COVID-19 symptoms or has tested positive.

·         If COVID Symptoms Exhibited During Practice or Game: If a player or staff member exhibits symptoms during an event, they should immediately be separated and sent home or to a health care facility depending on the severity of the symptoms. They should not be allowed to return to activity until they have met the CDC criteria to discontinue home isolation.

·         Player Or Volunteer Has Close Contact: Anyone with close contact with a person exhibiting symptoms should also be separated and sent home and should follow CDC guidelines for self-monitoring and procedures for community-related exposures.

·         Cleaning / Disinfecting Surfaces: Any areas, surfaces, or shared objects used by a sick person will be closed off and not used until after cleaning and disinfecting. If possible, it is recommended to wait at least 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting.

·         Notification: CLL will notify local health officials, volunteers, and family members immediately of any lab confirmed case of COVID-19 while complying with local state and privacy and confidentiality laws as well as with the Americans With Disabilities Act.