Coronavirus Update – step 2 guidance (from 12th April)

England Boxing can now issue the following update with regard to moving to Step 2 of the government’s easing of Covid-19 restrictions as it continues to follow its roadmap out of lockdown.

From Monday 12th April, boxing gyms and venues will be permitted to reopen, subject to meeting the criteria for indoor venues previously established during the Pandemic.

This can be viewed in full in the Return to Boxing Framework and includes capacity limits for the number of boxers allowed on the premises at any one time, the requirement to follow Test and Trace procedures and complete a Risk Assessment and the need to socially distance at all times (except for when doing pad work or sparring, see below).

Please note at Step 2 there are now different rules and regulations for children (under-18s) and adults, as explained below.

Children / Under 18 before 31st August 2020 (government definition)

From 12th April, provided the Return To Boxing Framework (April 2021) guidance, as well as England Boxing Rules, Regulations and Guidelines, are adhered to, then those Under 18 before 31st August 2020 shall be permitted to train indoors at PHASE 2 of the guidance, which includes pad work and sparring.

It has been confirmed that group (bubble) numbers indoors for Under-18s are limited to 15 plus coaches, providing that number remains within covid capacity guidelines (as opposed to unlimited for organised sport outdoors).

A club or venue is permitted to have more the one group (bubble) of 15 provided the groups can operate separately and continue to social distance appropriately, as well as meet covid capacity guidelines for the venue.

After a year without full activity, and whilst there will be understandable demand for sparring, boxers will return at different levels of fitness and preparation. It is therefore essential that coaches use their judgment and are responsible for ensuring a boxer’s sparring return is staged and only takes place when each individual boxer is suitably prepared and ready.

This will also give time for Clubs to get all the registrations – coaches and boxers, medicals etc – in place. It will also allow clubs to set up the necessary mitigation, protective equipment and procedures.

This training is permitted only as part of organised sport at an England Boxing-registered venue, as explained below.

Adults / over 18 on or before 31st August 2020 (government definition)

From 12th April, provided the Return To Boxing Framework (April 2021) guidance, as well as England Boxing Rules, Regulations and Guidelines, are adhered to, then those adults (over 18 on or before  31st August 2020) shall be permitted to train at PHASE 1 of the guidance, which includes pad work. Sparring is not permitted at this stage.

Adult pad work should be 1-2-1 with a coach only. All other adult training indoors should be on an individual basis (unless from within the same household), remaining socially distanced at all times with no group activity.

This training is permitted only as part of organised sport at an England Boxing-registered venue, as explained below.

What counts as organised sport

For the avoidance of doubt, organised Sport is defined as follows:

Where the rules mention ‘organised’ sport, this means sport which is formally organised by a qualified instructor, club, national governing body, company or charity and follows sport-specific guidance. If the sport is not organised by one of these groups (for example, some friends having a kickabout) or the sport’s NGB guidance is not being followed (for example, a football club ignoring the FA’s safety measures), this is considered to be informal or self-organised sport.

Taking part in organised sport sometimes means that other restrictions such as legal gathering limits don’t apply when taking part. This is because the organising body has considered the risks and set out ways to mitigate them so people can participate safely. Informal or self-organised sport is not covered by any exemptions.

Government advice around under-18s returning to sessions indoors

If you normally run sessions indoors, you should consider whether you can run them safely outside instead, as the risk of transmission is lower outdoors.

To reduce the risk of transmission, you should also aim to minimise mixing as far as possible. This can be achieved by keeping boxers in consistent groups or ‘bubbles’.

Therefore, where the activity is taking place indoors, you should first consider whether boxers can be kept in the same bubble as they are in during the school day in order to minimise mixing between different children. For more information, read the actions for schools during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Where it is not possible to group children in the same bubble as they are in during the school day, you should keep them in small groups of no more than 15 children and at least one staff member; and where possible, with the same children each time they attend.

Further steps that can be taken to minimise the risk of mixing between children would include keeping children from the same school together, or working with parents and carers to keep siblings from the same household together.

Sparring for adults

While sparring is not be permitted for adults at Step 2 of the government roadmap, England Boxing will continue to push for the return of this as soon as possible and will keep members updated of when changes come into effect as restrictions continue to ease.

Return To Boxing Step 3 – this will not be before the 17th May

We will provide updates on what this means as soon as the information is available. It is anticipated that information regarding this will not be before 10th May.

Boxing Abroad

To aid with planning, permission to Box Abroad will not be granted until the government allows it under the International travel regulations, and competitive boxing is permitted in this country.

Enquiries

If you have any questions or queries regarding the reopening of gyms, please email enquiries@englandboxing.org