On Monday, April 19th the Provincial Government announced additional restrictions on movement and activities across the province. Additional details will be released on Friday, April 23rd, the day these changes will begin. It has been announced that previous restrictions as well as the ones starting on April 23rd will continue to at least Tuesday, May 25th.

At this time BC Ultimate expects that the current restrictions on sport will continue, but not be increased. An overview of the Province-Wide Restrictions can be viewed here.

An overview of the sport restrictions and how they impact our sport:

Adult Indoor and Outdoor Group Sports (including Ultimate)

Group sports are activities involving more than one person. This includes training and practice for an individual or team sport. Games, tournaments and competitions for indoor and outdoor group sports for people 22 years of age and older are prohibited.

While restrictions are currently in place related to adult group sports, some indoor and outdoor sports and activities, including drills and training activities, are permitted with modifications and a reduced number of participants:

• • 2 people may engage in indoor sports with one another
  • 10 people may engage in outdoor sports with one another

Participants must maintain a distance of 3 metres from one another unless everyone lives in the same private residence.

Youth Indoor and Outdoor Group Sports (including Ultimate)

All organized indoor and outdoor sports for people 21 years of age and younger are limited to training and practice where all participants maintain 3 metres of physical distance from one another. This means games, tournaments and competitions are temporarily suspended. Amateur sports organizations and leagues may implement additional guidelines to ensure the health and safety of participants.

Travel for Sport

Even with the allowances above, it is important to reiterate that travel for sport is not allowed right now. So while groups may gather under the rules above, participants must restrict their travel according to this Guidance on travel restrictions for sport.

BC Ultimate Guidelines

In addition to the restrictions listed above, BC Ultimate encourages all groups participating in any training and practice activities to use enhanced cleaning procedures for both participants and equipment. Athletes and organizers should sanitize hands and discs prior to and after activities. While the use of masks are not mandatory, they are encouraged, even when a distance of 3 meters can be maintained.

No athlete should participate in any group activity if they answer Yes to any of the questions on the BC COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool

Travel Restrictions

As announced on April 19th, the province will be enacting additional travel restrictions on April 23rd. All athletes should be aware of these new restrictions when released and avoid non-essential travel.

Each year BC Ultimate awards four $750 bursaries to BC High School students who are moving on to Post-Secondary institutions and have been and are planning to continue to be involved in the sport of Ultimate.

In 2020, bursaries were awarded to:

Mika Kurahashi – Burnaby North Secondary – Vortex – UBC

Christine Ma – Burnaby North Secondary – Vortex – UBC

Katie Wong – Eric Hamber Secondary – Misfit – UBC

Annie Wu – RA McMath Secondary – Eclipse – Cornell

Name – High School – Jr Club Program – Post Secondary Plans

We wish all those selected for the 2020 bursaries good luck with the future education and disc sport endevors.

While the 2021 High School Ultimate season will not take place, BCU is happy to continue our tradition of supporting BC high school students who are involved in the sport of ultimate with their Post-Secondary plans. The 2021 Bursary documents can be found HERE. The submission deadline is May 15, 2021.

On December 3rd, 2020, the Provincial Health Officer provided further updates and clarifications on restrictions for Sport across the province following the November 19th Provincial Health Order. These updates impact ultimate, and all BCU member organizations should be familiar with this information.

On February 8th the Province of B.C. announced that the current public health restrictions are being kept in place indefinitely. While there haven’t been updates to the restrictions for sport, this means that the following key items remain in place:

• Individuals are permitted to travel to their home club for the purpose of sport, while following all restrictions in the current public health Order.
• The clarifications from January 7 on “group sport” remain applicable to adult sport.
• The high performance exemption remains in effect for athletes identified by CSI-Pacific and their Provincial or National Sport organization.
• The specifications around children and youth sport remain unchanged. Games and tournaments are temporarily suspended for teams.
• The Intercollegiate varsity sport exemption allows for athletes to train or practice only with the post-secondary institution with which they are enrolled.

For more details on the impact this has on sport you can head to the VIA Sport website and their FAQ page.

We know how difficult this news can be, but we are encouraged by the efforts and commitment displayed by the sport community to stay safe and protect each other.

Brian Gisel – General Manager, BC Ultimate