2nd WAVE OF CORONAVIRUS - UPDATE FROM March 1st, 2021
Finally some good news for our sport: re-start for youth from March 1st, 2021.
The Swiss Federal Council has decided On Feb 24th, that the following new rules will be valid for sports from Monday, March 1st:
YOUTH:
Youngsters up to the age of 20 (born 2001 and later) can train and play sports without restrictions (including contact, including competitions).
Those who have not had any contact training over the winter, must follow the Player Welfare guidelines of returning to light contact training, then full contact training, then returning to competitions, over the course of a 6-week-cycle.
ADULTS:
Adults born before 2001 can now train outdoors in groups of maximum 15 persons, without contact, while keeping a distance of minimum 1,5 meters between them. Competitions for these groups remain forbidden.
All outdoor sports infrastructures and installations will re-open as of March 1st, 2021.
As usual, we have updated our “Return to Play” documents. They can be found as PDFs below:
01/03/2021 - ENGLISH: RETURN TO RUGBY POSTER
01/03/2021 - FRANCAIS: POSTER RETOUR AU RUGBY
01/03/2021 - ENGLISH: FULL RTP PROTECTION CONCEPT
01/03/2021 - FRANCAIS: CONCEPT RTP COMPLET
The FSR is also finalizing the youth competition calendars for the re-start of competitions for young players, as well as a proposal for a new U20 competition, and will share those with the clubs as soon as possible.
In anything they do, all members of the Suisserugby Family are asked to stay very attentive and keep following good sense and good hygiene guidelines.
In anything you do, please stay very attentive and keep following good sense and good hygiene guidelines.
UPDATE DECEMBER 2020
Due to the resurgence of the Coronavirus in Switzerland starting in October/November 2020, the Federal Government has put in place a new set of restrictions, which also affect out sport. All competitions have been halted as of October 28th, 2020.
Players and clubs may nevertheless engage in certain training activities, always respecting national and cantonal rules and restrictions.
From December 18th, 2020 onwards, the Federal Council has restricted any sports training activities for people over the age of 16, to a maximum 5 persons, without contact, and while keeping a distance of Min 1,5 meters. These measures have been extended on January 13th to go on until minimum February 28th, 2021.
Youth under the age of 16 can continue training without restrictions, while all competitions remain forbidden.
Together with Swiss Olympic and the Federal Office of Sport (BASPO) the Swiss Rugby Union has therefore published an updated "Return to Rugby" concept for this phase, naturally accompanied by a concept of protection for its members and their families and communities.
Download the Full Concept here:
FRENCH (Mis a jour le 13/01/2021)
Download the updated POSTER summarizing the new rules and measures here:
SOME CANTONS HAVE ADDITIONAL RESTRICTIONS IMPACTING OUR SPORT, IN ADDITION TO THE NATIONAL RULES AND REGULATIONS:
(Each club is responsible for staying updated with the latest municipal and cantonal regulations regarding sports, as they can change over time)
The specific Restrictions for each canton can be found directly with the relative Cantonal Authorities. All relevant contacts can be found HERE.
Please note that in some cantons the sports facilities remain closed, even for young people under the age of 16.
UDATE: Phase 6 - Return to Competitions - From September 5th, 2020
Since June 22nd, 2020, Sporting events with up to 1000 persons are officially authorized to take place, in all disciplines including contact sport. Together with Swiss Olympic and the Federal Office of Sport (BASPO) the Swiss Rugby Union has therefore created a Return to Play concept, naturally accompanied by a concept of protection for its members and their families and communities.
The concept is designed to gradually re-start our sport, all while respecting the rules issued by the Federal Office of Public Health (BAG) as well as the Federal Council, and at the same time guaranteeing Player Welfare and safety while maximizing injury prevention strategies. A sport can not resume its activities without a federally approved concept. The Swiss Rugby Unions’ concept has been approved by the Federal Council.
The Swiss Ruby Union’s Concept has presented a gradual Return to Play in 5 Phases, with the 6th one being the full return to competitions, matches, and tournaments.
Download the Full Concept for Phase 6 - Return to Competitions
Download the Poster summary:
As Coronavirus numbers begin to rise again going into the autumn, the Federal Council has announced new restrictive measures for the country on October 18th, 2020. These do not affect the protection concepts already in place for rugby training and competitions in Switzerland.
The entire Suisserugby Family is called upon, to stay vigilant and disciplined and to keep implementing the protective measures strictly, to keep the entire community safe.
Coronavirus Return-to-Play Concept, Phase 1-5 - From May 11, 2020
On April 29th, the Swiss Federal Council decided that sports activites can resume, under strict restrictions, from May 11th, if the relevant national sports federation has created an accompanying Return-to-Play Concept for the Protection of participants and their communities.
Suisserugby has accomplished the very challenging task of creating and submitting such a concept, with the support of a group of medical and technical experts, within a very short deadline, and the concept has been accepted by the Swiss Government (BASPO/OFSPO).
PLAYER WELFARE: To ensure player welfare and minimize the risk of injury after a long pause, clubs and players are encouraged to follow the Suisserugby Return to Play guidelines above. With above alleviations by the Federal Council, clubs are encouraged move into Phase 3 of the Return-To-Play concept on June 6th, to move to Phase 4 and then Phase 5 starting from June 22nd. By returning to training activities with light contact for a few weeks, players can prepare themselves for a return to full contact later in June (Phase 4) and to friendly matches in July and August (Phase 5).
Download the Return-to-Play concept for Rugby in Switzerland, for Phase 1-5:
RETURN TO PLAY POSTER
Please find down below the “Return-to-Play” and "Return to Competition" Posters, summarizing the concept for phases 1-5 and for Phase 6.
Download it here:
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OTHER DIRECTIVES AND INFORMATION
On May 27th, and June 19th, 2020, the Federal Council has announced a series of alleviations of the measures to combat the Coronavirus in Switzerland. This is good news for our sport.
RUGBY TRAINING: STARTING FROM JUNE 6th, Rugby Clubs can resume normal training activities, so long as they follow the conditions described in the Directives below:
GERMAN
In addition, each club must fill out a “Protection Concept” for its own training activities:
GERMAN
The club must keep the concept on hand in case of inspection by the authorities during training.
COMPETITIONS: Starting from June 22nd, rugby competitions are allowed to resume in the form of friendly games, as well as competitive matches, starting from September 5th.
MEASURES TO KEEP IN PLACE:
Observance of the Hygiene Rules.
Observance of 1,5m Distance when not in game or training situations.
Each Club must have their Safety Concept in Place.
Each Player must perform a daily self-check - only players without symptoms may come to training.
Events with more than 1000 people remain forbidden.
Clubs must keep contacts of those present at trainings or games.
Players should train in their same training groups to avoid cross contamination.
Download the poster on the Measures here:
GERMAN
Tools for practical implementation of the Return-to-Play concept
In addition, we have prepared the following resources, as Annexes to the Return To Play Concept:
For U16-U18 and Adult Rugby:
For Kids' Rugby (Ecoles de Rugby) - U6-U14
Strength & Conditioning Programme
We have prepared a Strength & Conditioning Programme for U16, U18, and adult players, available for any clubs to use:
1-Hour Training Session for Kids' Training & Ecoles de Rugby
We have prepared a 1 Hour & 5 Minute Training session programme for kids' training, including exercise videos and examples. Download the Programme here:
Kids' Rugby Training Session (English)
Entrainement pour enfants / Ecoles de Rugby (Francais)
Trainings Programm Kinderrugby (Deutsch)
DOWNLOAD VIDEOS
VIDEOS ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-MIQe3WBvCZIaLt5EYQbvr4j2pjfLy7E
Please note that all these activities are optional, and no clubs or players are obligated to return to training and to play if they do not feel ready to do so.
We are confident that we all can take our own responsibility and work together on the implementation of these concepts, to create a fun, safe, and healthy environment for all our participants.
Other Online Resources
Swiss Olympic has a lot of documents and information available for athletes, sports clubs, and federations, to address the COVID-19 crisis:
Swiss Olympic COVID-19 Web Dossier
World Rugby has also created a number of resources to address the COVID-19 crisis, available in several languages:
COVID-19 Online Education Modules
Best Practice Models from Around the World
#StayInYourClub Campaign
Suisserugby is participating in the national communication campaigned launched by Swiss Olympic. The clubs, too, are invited to participate.
This campaign, entitled #StayInYourClub, aims to support all sports clubs in Switzerland by encouraging their members to remain active and engaged. In fact, some of them are in great difficulty because their activities have been suspended and they continue to have to bear many costs. The aim of this campaign is therefore to make members aware of the need to remain in solidarity with their club.
The Swiss Rugby Union encourages all Swiss clubs to participate in the campaign.
Find all the information, graphics, and links in the Campaign document, you can download here:
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