JUNE 28 UPDATES AND CLARIFICATIONS SHOWN IN UNDERLINED RED:  In light of the news announced on Wednesday, June 23, 2021 by the Province of Manitoba tied to the ongoing global pandemic, a number of changes have been made tied to indoor and outdoor sports in Manitoba.  Those include...

  • BASKETBALL TRAINING GROUPS: Allowance for indoor basketball to gather to a capacity of five (5) players plus coaches (to a maximum of 3 coaches) PER HALF COURT on a standard sized basketball gym. 
    • This clarification will permit up to a maximum of 10 players and 3 coaches to be present on a standard sized basketball court however, the two groups of 5 on each half court CANNOT intermingle with each other and must remain in their own group of 5 for the duration of the training session.  
    • The 5 active players can train and scrimmage with each other (no organized team games or tournaments) in close proximity to each other (share equipment with no social distancing).  
    • Players and coaches are to maintain their physical distance from each other.  
    • Indoor mask wearing is to be continued by everyone. 
    • It is strongly recommended that training groups follow the "rule of 2" in seeing at least 2 coaches present during the sessions.  
    • The wording of Order #17 is included below.  
  • BASKETBALL CAMPS: 
    • Basketball Manitoba has received clarification on Order # 13 of the current Manitoba Public Health Orders that can define a summer basketball camp as a "Day Camp" which would permit groups of up to 20 players present in a gym with a maximum of 3 coaches to attend an indoor basketball camp.
    • For a basketball camp to be defined as a "Day Camp", it must organized in advance, not have an overnight component, have an open, public registration for anyone to attend and be for children ages 17 and under only.  
    • If the program doesn't meet all 3 of these "Day Camp" definitions, then the group would fall under the above BASKETBALL TRAINING GROUP definition.  
    • The 20 active players at the camp can train and scrimmage with each other (no organized team games or tournaments) in close proximity to each other (share equipment with no social distancing).  
    • Players and coaches are to maintain their physical distance from each other.  
    • Indoor mask wearing is to be continued by everyone. 
    • It is strongly recommended that training groups follow the "rule of 2" in seeing at least 2 coaches present during the camps.   
    • The wording of Order #13 is included below.  
  • OUTDOOR BASKETBALL: 
    • Allowance for casual or organized outdoor basketball to gather to a capacity of twenty-five (25) participants on a standard sized basketball court.
    • UPDATED: coaches and officials are not counted as part of the 25 participants but are limited to those who are registered to coach the teams that are present at the time or assigned to officiate the games.  
    • Multi-team tournaments are not permitted outdoors.  
    • UPDATED: A maximum of 25 spectators are permitted on site and need to maintain social distancing from all others at all times.  
    • Mask use by participants is suggested but not mandated under these new orders.
    • The wording of Order #16 is included below.  

Additional Details...

  • Basketball Manitoba stresses that coaches lead a gradual return to basketball over the coming weeks and months understanding that athletes may not have been active for a long period of time with a focus on athlete health and injury prevention being stressed during all training.  More information on this topic can be found in the Canada Basketball Return Plan. (pages 5-8)
  • Normal team drills involving shared equipment are now permitted within the above defined person numbers including ones involving dribbling, passing, shooting and other offensive and defensive team drills.   
  • All equipment including basketballs and hands are to be properly sanitized before and after all training sessions.  Sanitizer Notes: 
    • A liquid form of hand sanitizer with 70%+ alcohol content in a spray bottle works well cleaning basketballs and other equipment with a clean rag and on hands at the same time.  
    • The cleaner dries fast and leaves no residue or smell on the basketball or hands and shows no damaging effects to a rubber or synthetic basketball.  
    • The liquid sanitizer and empty spray bottles can be purchased at home repair and department stores including Canadian Tire, Home Depot, Lowe's, Home Hardware, Walmart and many other locations including many online retailers.     
  • Social distancing (2m) is to be maintained at all times between players and coaches when not active on the court and follow all restrictions imposed by a facility when using change rooms / washrooms.  
  • Contact information must be kept by the head coach of all players they are training with and may be requested by the facility prior to attending the training session for contact tracing purposes.  
  • The full Basketball Manitoba Return to Play Guidelines with the above exceptions remain in place can be found HERE.  


Please note that the Basketball Manitoba Insurance Program has returned to protect all registered members under both accident and liability coverage effective April 1, 2021.  Only participants who are registered members in the 2020-21 membership year are covered under this liability coverage.  All others will participate at their own risk.  

Membership and insurance inquiries can be made to Adam Wedlake at Basketball Manitoba.  

The sport of basketball in Manitoba will remain in this state until at least Monday, August 2, 2021 or when the new health orders are updated or changed by Manitoba Public Health.  

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The new Manitoba Public Health Orders that were released on June 25 tied to sports specifically state... 


ORDER 13 - DAY CAMPS

13(1) Day camps for children may open if

(a) the maximum size of any group of campers is 20 and no joint activities between groups take place; and

(b) campers bring their own food and beverages or all food and beverages served at the camp are individually packaged.


ORDER 16 - OUTDOOR SPORTS

16(1) Outdoor sporting and recreational facilities, including golf courses, may open, subject to the requirements of this section.

16(2) Persons may engage in any type of outdoor sporting or recreational activity but they must not engage in an activity as part of a group of more than 25 persons.

16(3) Organized practices, games and competitions may take place at an outdoor sporting facility but the operator of an outdoor sporting facility must ensure that no multi-team tournaments take place at the facility.

16(4) Spectators are permitted at an outdoor sporting facility. Spectators are not to be included when calculating the number of participants in a sporting activity. Spectators must maintain a separation of at least two metres from other spectators.


ORDER 17 - INDOOR SPORTS

17(1) Indoor sporting facilities may open if the operator of the facility complies with all requirements of this Order. 

17(2) Individual play, group and individual instruction and team practices may take place at an indoor sporting facility but no organized team games or tournaments may be held at the facility.

17(3) The operator of an indoor sporting facility must:

(a) ensure that any group of persons participating in a sporting activity at the facility, excluding coaches or instructors, does not exceed five persons;

(b) take reasonable measures to ensure that there is no interaction between different groups of participants who are engaging in a sporting activity at the facility at the same time; and

(c) limit the number of persons in dressing rooms to 50% of the usual capacity or to a number that ensures that all persons in the dressing room are able to maintain a separation of at least two metres from other persons, whichever is lesser.

17(4) The operator of an indoor sporting facility must

(a) implement measures to ensure that members of the public at the facility are reasonably able to maintain a separation of at least two metres from other members of the public at the facility, excluding participants engaged in a sporting activity; and

(b) limit occupancy to all portions of the facility other than dressing rooms and the areas where sporting activities are conducted to 25% of the usual capacity.

Source: https://manitoba.ca/asset_library/en/proactive/20212022/orders-soe-06252021.pdf


NOTE: If there is a discrepancy between any Basketball Manitoba statement to the actual public health orders, the public health orders will take precedence. 

Basketball Manitoba will continue to monitor the current public health orders and make any updates or revisions as needed.  This article will be updated as further information on these impacts are known.  

More details on these changes can be found on the Province of Manitoba website.

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