Province playing ball with sports

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 31/05/2020 (1419 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When Sargent Park Tennis Garden opened its gates for the season on May 4, most of its courts sat empty.

There was an eager pair of competitive players hitting a ball back and forth on one court, but the rest were lifeless and the stands were empty as there were numerous rules in place owing to COVID-19.

One month later, there’s a lot more action on local tennis courts and fewer restrictions to worry about. On Monday, Tennis Manitoba entered Phase 3 of the sport’s reopening plan. Unlike Day 1, doubles play is now permitted, instructors can work with up to nine players at a time and small tournaments with some modified rules are allowed. Tennis players wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity, as Sargent Park saw most of the courts being used for matches or lessons Monday afternoon.

“I just love it,” said George Kylar, who manages the facility.

“It’s beautiful to see all these people playing. With the lack of other sports (lately), tennis really picked up… All the courts are packed. Lots of players are starting to get in the game and they’re coming back from other sports.”

Kylar wasn’t the only happy sports organizer on Monday, as Baseball Manitoba and Softball Manitoba got word from the provincial government that their return-to-play guidelines have been approved. The next step for both sports is to educate their leagues, officials and coaches on the new precautions that need to be taken. Baseball teams will be able to start training activities on June 8 while softball will have some teams practising as early as this week and hopes to have full schedules beginning June 15. Some slo-pitch leagues that are members of Slo-Pitch National, which is not affiliated with Softball Manitoba, started as early as Monday.

“It’s a big deal. We’re very excited,” said Baseball Manitoba executive director Jason Miller about his sport entering Phase 1. “We’re hesitant and trying to be careful, but we’re excited we’re able to tell people that we can get back on the field in an organized way and play the game.”

One of the biggest victories in Monday’s announcement was the fact that neither sport will see their competitive game rules modified. It will still look and feel like baseball and softball, but the bats and balls will be cleaned often and there will be much less activity in the dugouts.

“It’s a huge relief. I think that the players will see the greatest benefits,” Miller said. “We just get to play the game and not worry about any new or odd-looking situation or rules during the play itself. It’s a huge success.”

While baseball and softball are similar in many ways, there are some differences in their approaches to playing in the COVID-19 era. Softball Manitoba’s plan has balls being sanitized after every play/out, where Baseball Manitoba’s does not require balls to be sanitized during the game.

“I think everybody’s in a learning curve right now,” said Don Klym, Softball Manitoba’s executive director.

“There’s gonna be a lot of adjustments to make and we’ll follow baseball from the corner of our eye and we’ll see what they’re doing and compare it to what we’re doing. But we’re starting strong on the risk assessment and relaxing from there instead of going the other way.”

In order to make sure everyone is following the rules on the diamond, both baseball and softball are requiring teams to have a health and safety volunteer. Their responsibility is to ensure players and coaches are meeting the physical-distancing requirements, hands and equipment are being sanitized regularly, and to prevent coaches and players from participating if they’re showing COVID-19 symptoms.

“The reality is that with three staff people in the office, we can’t possibly be at every corner of the province and monitor all the training sessions and competitions. So, we need boots on the ground,” Miller said.

“Our entire organization is built on the backs of the volunteers. Unfortunately, we’re having to ask more of them and getting them to do the legwork that our plan is followed. The reality is if we want baseball to happen, that’s how it’s gonna have to happen.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31