Knox Little Athletics Centre Inc.

• Further easing of COVID-19 restrictions
• Update on State & Region events & portals

Patron Cap

With the State Government further easing Covid restrictions last Sunday, Anthony Macintosh, CEO of Little Athletics Victoria, advised Centres this week of changes to the covid restrictions that directly effect Little Athletics. In part, the following was provided:

Face masks: wearing face masks is no longer mandatory indoors or outdoors unless 1.5m physical distancing is not possible. Face masks must, however, be carried (or readily available) by all present 12 years and older at Little Athletics sanctioned events.

Patron limits: have been raised to a maximum patronage of 1000 (up from 500) inclusive of athletes, parents and spectators.

This is great news for us at Knox LAC, and from this Saturday, restrictions that were in place are no longer needed. Family members are welcome to attend.

All persons entering the facility are still be required to sign in with the QR code (or manual sign in if you wish) and persons 12 and older must carry a face mask. Sanitising is still required upon entry, and at events and all other covid protocols remain in place.

Knox LAC Executive Committee would like to thank everyone for their patience and commitment over the past few weeks to ensure the centre complied with the 500 patron cap rule.

Update on State & Region events & registration portals

LA Vic provided a further update on Wednesday on the registration portals opening for upcoming region and state events. With the changes announced on Sunday by the State Government, it has meant that any event over 1000 patrons must seek a permit from Government through the Public Event Framework (PEF).

LAVic are working through the PEF permit process, which has unfortunately delayed the opening of the registration portals for the regional and state events. Once these permits have been obtained, the registration portals will open. LAVic is asking everyone to be patient and will advise everyone once the portals are open.

LAVic has released a memo yesterday afternoon and have advised all Victorian Centres of a change to the 500 patron cap definition. Anthony Macintosh, CEO of Little Athletics Victoria, provided the following: 

Many of our Centres exceeding 200 members (and often many more Trial Athletes) have expressed concerns about how to keep patronage below 500 on competition/training days, as is required following State Government announcements last Sunday.

Sport & Recreation Victoria and Vicsport have provided further clarification about what parties are counted within, or are excluded, from the 500 patron venue cap.

In the Little Athletics context, ‘Those necessary to conduct the sport are excluded from the 500 cap and would include:

For competition: committee members, officials, first aid providers & volunteers undertaking a required task;
For training: committee members, officials, coaches, first aid providers and volunteers undertaking a required task. 

This is good news in that we can now exclude certain roles from the 500 patron cap, and means that we can ease some of the restrictions for this weekend to allow more options for our families. We understand that this is short notice for this weekend, and families may have already made alternative arrangements.

The Executive Committee has decided that following can now apply this weekend in light of the above changes provided by LAVic:

• Only registered athletes, or athletes who are completing trialing sessions can attend. Siblings who are not registered should not attend unless alternative arrangements can’t be made. Please advise your club if your are bringing siblings if care arrangements can’t be made.
• All age groups – 1 Parent only, unless they are on duty, then a second Parent can attend to supervise athletes to events.
• Families with athletes that require additional support are permitted to have an additional parent attend. Please advise your Club.
• Trialing athletes – 1 Parent only. 
• NO OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS ARE PERMITTED – To avoid disappointment please ensure you do not invite grandparents or other family members to spectate. No additional spectators will be permitted, and will be turned away at the entry gate.

Our priority remains that all athletes wanting to participate have the ability to do so, hence why the requirements above have eased for the weekend but remain in place. We thank everyone for their support and understanding in ensuring that we keep our venue numbers within limits.

With the Victorian Government announcing the 500 patron cap at venues for outdoor community sport we are asking all those that trialed with Knox LAC last weekend to advise the centre registrar in advance if you are intending to trial again this Saturday 28th November.

This will enable the centre to track capacity numbers to ensure we do not exceed the maximum 500 people permitted.

If you are an existing trialing athlete you are permitted to have one parent in attendance – please do not invite other family members to attend, they will be turned away.

Please email your intention to trial to registrar@klac23.org.au

If you have not trialed with Knox Little Athletics before – please send a request to trial to the registrar. We will put you on a waiting list and advise you if you are able to attend.

Please do not just turn up on the day expecting to trial. Priority will be given to our registered athletes to ensure they can compete on the day given the venue capacity numbers.

The Premier announced on Sunday 22nd November some Covid changes to community sport. The changes included that group sizes can be up to 50, and an overall 500 patron cap has been introduced.
LAVic have, released the updated protocols which can be found here.
 https://lavic.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/LAVic-All-Victoria-COVID-19-Protocols-v5-24.11.20.pdf

The key changes to the protocols are the following:

Patrons defined as:  all in attendance at sanctioned competition and training, inclusive of all Centre & Club Committee members, officials, coaches, athletes, parents, siblings, and spectators.

The maximum number of patrons attending a sanctioned Little Athletics activity must not exceed 500 at any one time.

A maximum density quotient of 1 patron per 4 square metres applies to all areas.

Face masks must be carried at all times by all patrons 12 years of age and older, and worn if physical distancing of 1.5 metres cannot be maintained.

We have sought advice from LAVic as to what the 500 patron cap means to our Centre and how it is to be applied.  LAVic have confirmed that the 500 cap applies to all persons within the venue, and it includes all committee members both centre and clubs, volunteers, officials, parents and athletes as defined above.  

This has a significant effect on our Centre at Knox, and we must adhere to new requirements from this weekend to ensure that we stay under 500 patrons at the venue.

To ensure fairness to all registered athletes, so that they have an opportunity to compete on the weekend and to comply the 500 patron cap, the Executive Committee has introduced the following for this weekend:

• Only Registered athletes or athletes who are trialing can attend. Siblings who are not registered must not attend. 
• U10-U16 age group – 1 Parent only, even if they are on duty. It is expected that athletes in these age groups can manage themselves to get to events. Club Team Managers will assist to ensure their clubs athletes are heading to events when called.
• U6-U9 age group – 1 Parent only, unless they are on duty, only then can a second parent attend to supervise young children to events.
• Trialing athletes – 1 Parent only. 

NO OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS ARE PERMITTED – Please ensure you do not invite grandparents or other family members to spectate. 
No additional spectators will be permitted and they will be turned away at the entry gate.

CSO’s will be on the gate this weekend, checking with families as they enter, and will be keeping a count of numbers as people come through. If the above limitations are not followed, the Centre may limit entry and turn people away.

We understand that this is going to place extra requirements on families, particularly those that have younger children that cannot attend, and may limit some families ability to attend Little Athletics.

IT’S HERE! WE HAVE ARRIVED.

With our first competition day on Saturday, there are a few things that the Centre would like everyone to be aware of for a smooth start to the season.

This week is Program A and starts at 8.30 sharp. An opening ceremony will be held from 10am and the program will resume at the completion of the ceremony.

Athletes are reminded to wear their competition club singlets, and wear the name patches pinned to the front of the top. New and trialing athletes should wear comfortable sports wear to compete in.
Club team managers will receive name patches tomorrow morning to hand out to their athletes that registered and paid prior to Thursday. Registered Athletes will need to head to their club first to collect their name patch before starting events. Trialing athletes will receive a temporary patch from the registration desk when they arrive.

Covid Safety
Covid Safety Rules must be adhered to. Please take the time to read through and familiarise yourselves with our requirements. We expect all families to comply with these rules. You can get further information on our Covid 19 page here
Please limit movement around the track unless escorting children to events. Remember to be socially distant while you at your clubs, as well as while you are moving around the venue. Covid Safety Officers will be in place to ensure everyone is complying with protocols. Please follow their directions.

Venue Entry
Entry to the venue on Saturday morning is via the Grandstand entry gates (Southern End). You will not be able to access the venue via the turnstile end. Contact tracing sign in will be in place.
Please ensure you arrive early to have enough time to sign in. QR codes will be posted near the entry for people to use. There will be a manual sign available as well.
The QR is available on the Knox LAC website here for people to print and keep with them. You can then use when you arrive to sign in and avoid delays at the the entry gate. Covid Safety Officers will be on duty at the entry gate to ensure everyone entering signs in for covid contact tracing.

Please note – No spectators are permitted. Only athletes, officials and parents required for duty are to attend. Additional parents/guardians are permitted for the purposes of supervising children if needed. No additional family members or spectators are permitted.

Signing In for Duty
Parents on duty are reminded that they must also sign in for duty. The duty sign in table will be located at the end of the shade sails at the Pavillon end as per last season. Please ensure you have signed in by 8.15am, at your event by 8.25am, and ready to start at 8.30am. We suggest arriving early to sign in for duty.

Canteen Service
Due to the covid restrictions in place for indoor areas, the canteen will only have a limited service. There will be no coffee service from the canteen until restrictions are eased. Please note that the social distancing must be adhered to if buying anything from the canteen.

Lets stay safe and have a great first meet at little aths!