The following message is IMPORTANT for ALL LADIES LEAGUE PARTICIPANTS. Please read in full.
General arrangements
1. Ladies League will resume on 22 March. The provisional schedule is:
Monday, 22 March (round 5)
Monday, 5 April (round 6)
Monday, 12 April (round 7)
Monday, 19 April (round 8)
Monday, 26 April (round 9)
Saturday, 1 May (final round for divs 3, 4; playoffs for divs 1, 2, 5, 6)
Monday, 3 May (playoffs for divs 3, 4)
Saturday, 8 May (finals)
2. All games will be played on outdoor courts.
3. We encourage teams to limit attendance at games to team members and two officials only, and not to invite any spectators. Teams are also urged to leave the venue immediately after their game.
4. Any spectators will be required to register their attendance through the LeaveHomeSafe app or by recording their contact details at the duty desk upon entry.
5. As per HKNA’s message of Friday, 26 February, all players shall complete registration on Sportslomo by 19 March, and in any case before
they can take the court on Monday, 22 March. All non-playing umpires and coaches shall also complete a Sportslomo registration by the same dates. The Sportslomo registration link is available here.
6. Clubs may only reschedule games in case of wet weather cancellations, in which case they are responsible for all arrangements (courts,
umpires etc). Any rescheduled games shall also be played on outdoor courts and in accordance with COVID-related restrictions applied by
HKNA for League games. Alternatively, teams may accept a draw in which case each team gets 3 points.
7. Any teams that require umpiring support should resubmit their request to Jenny Chadwick ([email protected]) by Tuesday, 16 March, even if they have already submitted a request, i.e., all requests need to be resubmitted.
8. HKNA’s COVID-19 Policy will apply to the Ladies League except where amended by the message. As per the policy, HKNA reserves the
right to cancel or postpone games to protect participant safety even if there are no Government or LCSD regulations requiring cancellation or postponement. Such a decision would be triggered, for example, by an exponential increase in cases and particularly in untraceable cases.
Close contact with a positive case
9. All participants should be aware that in case of “close contact” with a “positive case”, individuals may be subject to mandatory quarantine at a government facility (further information here). According to the Centre for Health and Protection, “close contact with a positive case” means being within one metre of a person with symptomatic laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 for a period of time (i.e., 15 minutes) without surgical masks. This is the basic principle but each case is assessed on a case-by-case basis and it may be applied stringently. For an outdoor netball game, it is possible that if one player on court is found to be a positive case, all players on that court (or more) could be subject to mandatory quarantine.
10. To lessen the risk of catching COVID-19 and/or being subject to mandatory quarantine, players may consider wearing masks even when playing outdoors. Teams may request other teams to wear masks during their games. If the other team does not agree and the requesting team wishes to forfeit the game, it must give HKNA at least 48 hours’ notice, failing which it will be subject to financial and points penalties for forfeit (as per section 10(g) of the Bylaws). If the forfeiting team gives more than 48 hours’ notice, it will only be subject to points penalties (i.e., 4 points for the non-forfeiting team; 0 points for the forfeiting team).
11. If any player, team or club wishes, however, to withdraw from the League for COVID-related reasons, their club shall notify HKNA by midnight, Wednesday, 10 March 2021, and where necessary submit a revised team list of players by that date. HKNA will finalise the League schedule after Wednesday, 10 March.
12. Please note:
a) No team shall be penalized for withdrawing by 10 March from the remainder of the League for COVID-related reasons;
b) Players may be moved to other teams in a club, but no player shall play down a division unless approved in advance by the League Convenor upon request;
c) If a player’s team withdraws from the League and they cannot play up, they may play in their division or higher for another club. It is up to the player and the original and other club to reach an agreement and to notify HKNA of arrangements as early as possible;
d) To be eligible to play in finals, a player must have played in the finals team at least 3 times (HKNA waives the requirement in section 12(f) of the Bylaws that the player must have played at least 6 games for the club).
e) Teams that withdraw at this stage shall not be entitled to a larger refund than those that do not. Any refund will be calculated at the end of the season and subject to the overall financial viability of HKNA.
