the province has just extended all existing Emergency Orders that are currently in force until 29 May. That includes the Closure of Establishments Order, which states that "All facilities providing indoor recreational programs" are ordered to be closed.
The following establishments are hereby ordered to be closed and this Order applies generally throughout Ontario:
1. Until the end of May 18, 2020, all facilities providing indoor recreational programs,
1.1 Beginning on May 19, 2020, all facilities providing indoor recreational programs, other than facilities listed in Schedule 2 to Ontario Regulation 82/20 (Order under Subsection 7.0.2 (4) — Closure of Places of Non-Essential Businesses)
34.4 Facilities, other than pools, that are in compliance with section 8 of Schedule 3 and that are being used by one or more of the following organizations, leagues or clubs to train amateur or professional athletes or to run amateur or professional athletic competitions:
i. A national sport organization funded by Sport Canada or a member club of such an organization.
ii. A provincial sport or multi-sport organization recognized by the Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries or a member club of such an organization.
iii. A professional sport league or a member club of such a league.
8. Every person responsible for a facility described in paragraph 34.4 of Schedule 2 shall ensure that,
(a) the only persons permitted to use the facility are athletes who are members of an organization, league or club described in paragraph 34.4 of Schedule 2;
(b) any person who enters or uses the facility maintains a physical distance of at least two metres from any other person who is using the facility;
(c) team sports and pool-based sports are not practised or played within the facility;
(d) other sports or games that are likely to result in individuals coming within two metres of each other are not practised or played within the facility;
(e) all sport activities are conducted in accordance with the rules and policies of the applicable organization identified in paragraph 34.4 of Schedule 2, including the rules and policies put in place to enable a safe return to the sport;
(f) no spectators are permitted at the facility, other than up to one accompanying parent, guardian or other adult for each athlete under the age of 18; and
(g) any locker rooms, change rooms, showers and clubhouses in the facility remain closed, except to the extent they provide access to a washroom or a portion of the facility that is used to provide first aid.
And how! Unfortunately.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries
As we were talking about various parts of Canada a few days ago - it looks like it's going to be at least another ten days before Ontario skaters are back on the ice. While some outdoor sports are being allowed to go ahead, the province has just extended all existing Emergency Orders that are currently in force until 29 May. That includes the Closure of Establishments Order, which states that "All facilities providing indoor recreational programs" are ordered to be closed.
The border with the US will also remain closed to all but essential travel for another month.
Probably a good decision; Ontario's averaged new case rate has been dropping steadily but slowly, and another fortnight or so would be very useful to consolidate that trend and decrease community transmission a bit further.
Take all the coaches and skaters and judges and whatever and send them to ONE PLACE for quaranteen for two weeks...somewhere with lots of rinks...and do all the GPs there. Once a skater has done their GPs, they can leave. Very expensive, yes, but very lucrative for the city to host all the events. I have some other tweeks in mind (you dont need a week between GPs, for instance) but it COULD work without fans and maybe with.
Question is not when season will start but when skaters will start to skate on the ice.
Absolutely. Skaters will need to have been trained and ready by the season starts, they will need about 3 months, or bare minimum of 2 - although that might be pressing. They have been completely off ice for a couple of months, it will take more time to get back into the swing just to begin with.
With the two dominant nations - Russia and US being heavily affected and problems still rampant, it is absolutely crucial that things gets under controll in these countries and their athletes get back to training, otherwise it will be difficult to get the season started.
Edited PS - I just saw a on the news that one country - Greece - is opening to tourists from June with restrictions, but the list of approved countries is not encouraging what it means for our sport with other countries. The US, Canada and Russia are not on the list (interestingly, Japan and China are).
NRL Island lives again! Sorry, readers of the Guardian's Australia Coronavirus liveblog will recognise the reference.
Very mad at Channel 9 right now. And the NRL. Anyway.
I don't think Skating Island is viable. If we're talking two weeks quarantine at the start, two weeks whenever the skaters go home, and six weeks in the middle for six GPs...if you got assigned the first and last event, you'd be stuck in quarantine or in the bubble for 10 weeks. That's a lot of ask. Not to mention the judges, as a lot of them overlap.
Edited PS - I just saw a on the news that one country - Greece - is opening to tourists from June with restrictions,
Not to mention there are bunch of other logistical issues to be solved. Who's going to host/feed/clean up after the skaters, coaches, team doctors etc for the length of the competition, and who'll pay for them - remembering that host federations cover GP skaters' costs including transport too. Who's going to run, clean and sanitise the rinks? What about the film crew/s, who won't be able to work on any other jobs while the competition is running and so stand to lose income? What about the drug testers - will their objectivity be compromised if they can't be completely separated from the skaters for the whole competition period and what would it do to their wellbeing to be kept in even stricter isolation within a bubble? What about federation reps and the fact that judges are volunteers? What about those skaters who are minors and still in school?
It's theoretically viable, but I agree, once you dig into the details it's a lot less so practically. At least when the NRL was floating its island scheme it was talking about players who were adults!
Here's a recording of Skate Ontario's first online Town Hall meeting to pass on information about Stage 1 of the Return to Sport process in their area, if anyone's interested. It's a really quite interesting peek at what legal, logistical and other issues have to be managed 'behind the scenes' before even a single skater can set blade to ice under the aegis of Skate Ontario.
Among other things, since Stage 1 has been clarified by the provincial government as meaning a return to training for 'high performance athletes only', they have to establish a precise definition of what 'high performance' means in the case of skating and where the cut-off boundary is!
They're aiming to have their protocols signed off and to clubs by early next week. Got to appreciate the Canadian virtues of thoroughness and co-operation!
ETA: Oh, and they did clarify: no pairs or dance training that involves contact between skaters is legally permitted during Stage 1.