Tip-Off Weekend
During this afternoons (January 22nd) press conference it was announced that competition would be permitted to take place as of 12:01 AM on January 25th, this leaves us in a position to be able to finally begin the 2020-21 MBA season. As was mentioned over the past number of months, this season is going to look very different then seasons gone by. The league has actively put policies and procedures for this season to ensure we are abiding by the Public Health guidelines as well as the return to play plan set out by Basketball Nova Scotia. Below is a summary of the important information as we move closer to “tip-off weekend.
Important Dates
January 15th - team lists were due, I am still waiting on a couple clubs for these.
January 29th - team fees due ($850/team). If something happens that games are not permitted this will be returned to you in full. If we begin and are shut down mid season a prorated amount will be returned to you.
January 31st - Team rosters are due
January 31st - Proof of insurance due, most clubs have registered with Basketball Nova Scotia, forward me confirmation from them that your club is a registered member. For those clubs who have opted to obtain their own insurance please forward insurance certificate naming Metro Basketball Association on the policy.
February 2nd 7pm - Mandatory meeting for all clubs who are participating in the league this season. All clubs MUST have a representative present. This meeting will take place virtually over ZOOM. Clubs who are not present will have teams removed from the schedule.
Rule Changes - COVID 19
- Limits to a team’s roster size.
- Teams will be able to have a maximum of 15 players
- Teams will be able to have a maximum of 4 coaches and must have a minimum of two coaches
- If a team has less then 15 players they cannot add additional coaches
- The rule limiting the number of shifts a player can play has been removed for U10 and U12 (i.e. a player can play more then 5 shifts and a team does not need 8 players by the start of the second half)
- The rule stating that there must not be more then a one shift differential between any player on the team is STILL IN EFFECT.
- There will be no jump-ball to start the game. There will be a coin toss prior to the start of the game, done by the referee(s) and a coach from each team.
- There will be no post-game hand shakes
Policy’s and Procedures - COVID 19
- Spectators will not be permitted. Games will not start if there are spectators in the gym*
- All coaches, players, officials and scorekeepers MUST wear a mask entering and exiting the facilities as well as when not in the gym.
- Masks are not mandatory while participating in the sport. It is strongly suggested that those coaches, players and scorekeepers sitting on the sidelines (bench) wear a mask.
- Additional time has been scheduled between game times, this is to allow a safe entrance and exit from all facilities. Teams waiting for their game must wait in the parking lot until the participants from the previous game have completed vacated the facility. Teams cannot wait in the hallways waiting for the teams from the previous game to clear. Coaches are asked to work together to notify the incoming teams that their group has completely left the building.
- Per the return to basketball guidelines set out by Basketball Nova Scotia and approved by the Department of Health all players, coaches and officials must sign a waiver. This is a one time waiver and is available to be filled out online. I will be setting each of your clubs up to be able to collect these waivers.
- All participants will be required to answer the daily attestation questions, we will not be collecting these. However prior to each game beginning each team must give the scorekeeper their attendance list for their team, this includes a Yes/no section to confirm the questionnaire has been gone through with all players and coaches on their team. Coaches should print and bring a copy of this filled out to each game. If participants are exhibiting any of the symptoms outlined by the department of health they may not participate or attend.
- All teams are to bring hand sanitizer to be used by their team and on their teams equipment (including game ball). The game ball will stay with the officials or the scorekeeper during shift changes, quarter breaks and half time.
- All other public health guidelines are to be followed.
- All Documents noted above are available on our website on the COVID-19 page in the main menu. (click here)
Team Rosters
- Completed by import file previously send out and attached to this e-mail
- There are a larger number of mandatory fields then in the past, there are two reasons for this.
- We have switched to a now registration provider and these are all mandatory fields in the new system. Please do not make up data to fill the fields.
- Per public health guidelines we are required to collect contact information for all participants, players and coaches.
- There are a number of fields which are optional, these can be filled in if the club chooses. Our hopes are that most clubs will switch their registration platform to align with ours (certainly not a requirement). If this information is imported this year it would make it accessible next year should the club choose to use the registration system for their own club next season or in the future.
- This file can contain anyone who will appear on a roster; players, coaches, assistant coaches, assistant coaches and managers
- In the Team Staff Field select ‘no’ for players and ‘yes’ for everyone else.
- Team names can be added to the file -You will need to submit your ClubTeamList.xlsx file to me first, I will then send you a list of team names you will be able to use in the roster file.
- For all clubs who have submitted their team lists I have sent back the list of teams to use in the roster import file.
Basketball Nova Scotia Changes
Reminder, Basket Ball Nova Scotia has incorporated two new policies this season which will affect your membership with them (if you have chosen to join). If your club is covered through insurance provided with membership to them and you have not already submitted the information to them please start that process to ensure insurance coverage is in place by January 31st. Team who are uninsured will not be included in the schedule. The two policies are: The Rule of Two and Coach Screening Policy. These can be found on their website (www.basketballnovascotia.com). Questions related to Basketball NS membership and policies should be sent to Katherine Brien, bnsexecutivedirector@sportnovascotia.ca .
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