Waikato Hockey and the new Covid Protection Framework (Traffic Light System)

We all know by now that as of Friday 3^rd December the whole country is moving into the traffic light system and our Waikato area is starting at Orange.

So what does this mean for hockey?

Basically there are 2 options available (at Orange);

1. Where vaccine passes are checked – there are no limits on the number of people that can attend.
2. Where no vaccine passes checked – we can have a maximum of 50 people at the venue

As we have said before, we have spent years trying to make hockey a sport for all and exclude no one from playing.  This decision is now out of our control.  All our competitions that operate have more than 50 people attending, so we have no option but to go with option 1, where vaccine passes are checked.

However, we can open our turf up (outside of competition times) for bookings to cover people excluded under option 1.  where vaccine passes are not checked.  This means that a group of up to 50 people could come together (vaccinated or non-vaccinated) and continue to enjoy the benefits of playing hockey.  This would only be for playing on the turf, we could not open the café/bar, toilets or changing rooms under these conditions, otherwise we would need to do a deep clean of the facilities before we let another group into the facilities.

Therefore, the rest of the year is going to be as follows;

3^rd December until 17^th December, we will be continuing with our existing bookings for competitions, these gatherings will all be situations where vaccine passes are checked.  This means that if you are over 12 years 3 months old and are not vaccinated (or cannot prove you are vaccinated) then you will not be allowed into the venue.

During this time we will also accept bookings from other groups who may want to use the turf without vaccine passes being checked.

The venue will be closed from 17^th December 2021 until 17^th January 2022.

When the venue reopens on 17^th January 2022, we will be in a position to make further announcements based on the traffic light levels we find ourselves at then.

Please also note;

Facemasks are still encouraged outside (except when playing) and are required should you want to come inside the buildings.

Everyone who enters the premises is still required to sign in with the Covid Tracing App (this is separate to the Vaccine Pass). Both are required to be scanned.

MOST IMPORTANT – to come into the venue when vaccine passes are being checked you MUST carry proof of your Vaccine Pass or you will be denied entry, no matter who you are.  We are developing a system for collecting player details, so players who regularly come into the turf, will have their vaccine pass details collected with their registration, so may not need it checked every day.

– Declan Wyndham-Smith  (CEO)