Provincial Health Orders Update

Today’s announcement of the updated Provincial Health Orders appear to include the following changes that specifically relate to recreation and sport facilities*

• allowing outdoor rinks to reopen for casual sports as well as organized practices and games, with multi-team tournaments not permitted;
• allowing gyms, fitness centres and yoga studios to reopen at 25 per cent capacity;
• allowing indoor sporting facilities such as rinks, gymnastic clubs and martial arts studios to reopen at 25 per cent capacity for individual instruction only;

The orders will formalize the following changes for all of Manitoba, replacing the General COVID-19 Prevention Orders made on Jan. 28 and the Northern Manitoba COVID-19 Prevention Orders made on Feb. 1, 2021. The orders will take effect at 12:01 a.m. on Feb. 12 and will last for three weeks.

*NOTE: We have used the phrase “appear to” because as of the time of posting, the final official Health Orders have not yet been released.

This is certainly a positive step, however it is important to note that they also come with a host of complications that must be sorted before anything can move forward.

• At the time of this post, we cannot confirm whether “indoor sporting facilities” will include the James Daly Fieldhouse and/or other indoor training sites.
  • We are in constant communication with Sport Manitoba, and our University partners and will absolutely be working to clarify this as soon as possible.
  • Sport Manitoba has scheduled a call this afternoon with all sport partners to review and discuss the updated orders.
• If (and we must emphasize IF), the James Daly Fieldhouse at Max Bell is allowed to re-open under the new health orders, the University still must decide whether they will re-open to outside user groups.
  • Again, we are in constant communication with the University and will clarify their plans as soon as possible.
  • Whatever they decide, we will work with the University of MB, our coaches and our clubs to determine how we can proceed safely.
• If we are able to have access to some indoor training facilities, and one-on-one training is allowed, Coaches and Clubs will also have to consider their own level of personal risk.
  • For an athlete, this might be a very low level of risk, however Coaches who might hypothetically schedule multiple one-on-one sessions with different athletes, would be assuming a much higher level of risk.
  • Finally, we absolutely must remember our commitment to Safe Sport and the “Rule of Two” principle.

This is not meant to put a damper on things. It is however meant as a clarification and a reminder that while these new health orders are good news, and absolutely a step in the right direction, there are still MANY factors that need to be considered before we can expect to resume in-person training. 

We ask for your patience and support, primarily for all of your team and club coaches and administrators.

Athletics MB staff will be meeting with partners this afternoon and we will aim to follow up with our membership Wednesday or Thursday with more details on what these new health orders really mean for us.

Until then, take care.