Play ball?
The Greater Niagara Baseball Association is still holding out hope baseball will be played at some point this summer.
The City of Niagara Falls had closed all parks and facilities until June 30, but this week GNBA received a memo from the city indicating the parks could be open earlier.
“We are still optimistic we can still run a couple of months of house league pending announcements from the premier (Doug Ford) as to when he is going to allow some of this to happen,” GNBA vice-president Bob Pysher said.
A State of Emergency has been declared in Ontario until June 2 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pysher expects a clearer idea after that date as to what might happen.
The GNBA has already cancelled all tournaments in Niagara Falls up to and including July 12. There are three more tournaments scheduled in July that have yet to be cancelled.
Pysher indicated even if parks are open in mid-June, GNBA’s 10 travels teams would not have anyone to play at that point.
“None of the other municipalities in Ontario are opening until July,” he said.
The Ontario Baseball Association has yet to sanction any teams for the upcoming season, which concerns GNBA president Vito Scaringi. Baseball Canada has also cancelled all tournaments throughout the summer.
“The OBA has not sanctioned any teams and won’t sanction any teams yet so we can’t do anything,” he said. “At this point, if you have no parks and no approval from the governing body, what do you do? You just wait to see what happens.”
Scaringi would love to see some type of modified schedule if possible.
“Of course, I would have liked to start last month,” he said. “We are waiting for direction.
“There are all kinds of things to consider, all kinds of variables. We’d love to have it, don’t get me wrong.”
Pysher said about 450 players have signed up for house league, down 250-300 from last season. However, the final two registrations were not held due to the pandemic and the final registration normally is the largest.
Across Niagara, an e-mail was sent from Niagara District Baseball Association president Al Dobbin to all associations this week which read:
The Safe Sport Team at Baseball Ontario continues to monitor the situation and is working on a return to play strategy that aligns with the Government of Ontario’s staged approach to resume sport activity.
At this time it is not clear where sport fits into the staged roll out plan by the Ontario Government, but we expect an update from the province by the end of May.
We anticipate that when we are able to resume in-person activities, it will begin with small organized practices to be kept within the limits the gatherings the government is likely to mandate, along with compliance with the provincial return to play guidelines.
SAFETY GUIDELINES BEING CONSIDERED:
1. Work with municipalities regarding the opening of facilities with enough time to prepare them for competition, and be cognizant of any new guidelines for sanitation.
2. Rule changes to accommodate social distancing.
3. Rules to limit contact (no high fives, handshakes, fist bumps, etc.).
4. Prohibit sharing food, water and their containers.
5. Prohibit spitting, gum chewing, use of sun flower seeds, etc.
6. No sharing of equipment (helmets, masks, etc.).
7. Implementation of PPE (personal protective equipment), should it be required by the Government of Ontario.
8. Cleaning and sanitizing of shared spaces and equipment (baseballs).
Please note these are only guidelines being considered, once the OBA has officially confirmed the changes that will be in place then a meeting will be called with everyone asap, so please make sure all your members are aware of what is taking place.
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