Metropolitan Pennant – Covid Guidelines
Metropolitan Pennant Competition General Conditions should be read in conjunction with the specific Pennant Competition Conditions of Play
Conditions of Play for Country Pennant Competitions are determined by the Country Leagues and where possible, should be consistent with the Metropolitan Pennant Competition General Conditions.
Each circumstance will be considered as they arise, however the following outcomes can be seen as a guide only for clubs to note.
- Home and Away Pennant Season
It is likely Clubs and/or players will be affected by Covid and Covid Laws in some way during the remainder of the regular home and away Pennant season.
We will all need to be flexible as new Covid Requirements or exposure to Clubs and Players could occur at any time. The following rules will be in place for the remainder of the Pennant season, for all metropolitan Pennant competitions and will be updated as required.
1.1 A Club is forced to close as an exposure site, but players are free to play
(i) If a club is forced to close while a Pennant Round should be played at the club, but players are not affected and are free to play, games will be played at the scheduled away side’s green.
(ii) If the Away club does not have green space, it will be up to the originally scheduled Home club to find a neutral venue.
(iii) If a venue is not available on the scheduled day of play, clubs will be required to work with the opposition club and Bowls WA to potentially reschedule to another day. If an agreement is not reached, the fixture may be declared a draw. If Bowls WA believes a club is not acting in good faith to try and reschedule, a forfeit may be awarded to the opposition club.
1.2 A Club is forced to close as an exposure site, and players are required to isolate due to having a positive test result or must isolate as a close contact or have been instructed to receive a negative test result before playing
(i) Where a Side from the previous weeks fixture is impacted and missing more than 50% of players, Clubs may choose not to field that particular side, however it is encouraged that clubs fill their higher sides as the priority.
(ii) Where a Side from the previous weeks fixture is impacted and missing 50% or less players, Clubs must fill sides from the highest division down.
(iii) Fixtures where a club does not have enough players available will be deemed as abandoned and sides will share the points.
1.3 Lack of Players due to Covid Protocols from non-bowling club exposure sites and influences
(i) Where a Side from the previous weeks fixture is impacted and missing more than 50% of players, Clubs may choose not to field that particular side, however it is encouraged that clubs to fill their higher sides as the priority.
(ii) Where a Side from the previous weeks fixture is impacted and missing 50% or less players, Clubs must fill sides from the highest division down.
(iii) Fixtures where a club does not have enough players available will be deemed as abandoned and sides will share the points.
1.4 Unavailable Players due to Mandatory Vaccination Rules
Where a club has lost players due to their vaccination status and they are unable to fill sides:
(i) A club must fill sides from their highest division down.
(ii) Where a club does not have the players to complete a side it will be considered a forfeit and the opposition club will be awarded the points.
(iii) If both clubs are in the same situation, it will be declared a draw and equal points will be awarded
(iv) There will be no financial penalty for forfeiting where a club can demonstrate they are unable to fill teams due to loss of players via the vaccination rules
1.5 General Information and Club Requirements
(i) Clubs must inform Bowls WA as well as their opposition club that they are unable to play on the scheduled day of play
(ii) Clubs must wait until a maximum of 24 hours before the scheduled day of play before officially notifying Bowls WA and their opposition club
(iii) If a Club and their players have been cleared to play at Home and Away Venues by the WA Health Authority and a Club chooses to not play against them, the club that chooses not to play will be forfeited with no financial penalty.
(iv) Where Clubs do not have enough players to complete a side, they will be required to demonstrate loss of players due to covid reasons to be awarded a draw.
(v) Where Clubs cannot fill teams through general lack of players other than Covid requirements they will be required to forfeit as per usual Metropolitan General Conditions
While all attempts will be made to continue the Pennant Competition, On-going monitoring of circumstances may require a recommendation to bring in a temporary Pennant competition shut down if the numbers of clubs/players unavailable exceeds a level where the competition is deemed not viable to continue for that period of time.
