Guidance

Elite sport Stage Two - return to training

Updated 14 July 2021

Introduction

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has presented a significant challenge to this country. Everyone’s actions, including those of elite athletes and sporting bodies, have helped to reduce the transmission of coronavirus in our communities.

As the UK moves to the next phase in our fight against coronavirus, the most important thing we can do is to stay alert, control the virus, and in doing so, save lives.

Therefore, it has been agreed by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), Public Health England (PHE), the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) and UK Sport, working with major sports governing bodies, that a coordinated and carefully phased resumption of elite sporting training and competition will be necessary ahead of any return to competitive sport itself.

This is to minimise the risk to the elite sports community, fans, friends and family who support them, and have opportunities to re-assess safety and proportionality at every stage, and to minimise the pressure elite sport places on the wider community and healthcare workers during any resumption of training.

Purpose of the guidance

The following guidance covers Stage Two of the proposed five stage framework for returning to full unrestricted elite sporting competition.

This guidance will assist elite sport organisations to deliver a safe return to organised training for their athletes and staff, and outlines those requirements that build upon the Stage One guidance in cases where Stage Two training is to be undertaken.

The guidance has been produced by a working group of leaders, Chief Medical Officers and partner organisation representatives including institutes, athlete representative bodies and sport venue hosts across Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports in collaboration with DCMS, PHE, DHSC and UK Sport.

This guidance does not constitute legal advice or replace any government or PHE advice; nor does it provide any commentary or advice on specific health-related issues for teams or individual athletes. Elite sports and affected organisations should therefore ensure that they seek independent advice from appropriately qualified medical practitioners prior to implementing any ‘return to training’ plan.

For the purposes of this guidance the definition of an ‘elite athlete’ means a person who is:

• an individual who derives a living from competing in a sport

• a senior representative nominated by a relevant sporting body

• a member of the senior training squad for a relevant sporting body, or

• on an elite development pathway

For these purposes, a “relevant sporting body” is the national governing body of a sport which may nominate athletes to represent either (a) Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Tokyo, or the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Beijing, or (b) England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham in those sports which are not part of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games programme.

A “senior representative” means a person who is considered by a relevant sporting body to be a candidate to qualify to compete on behalf of (a) Great Britain and Northern Ireland in the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Tokyo or Beijing, or (b) England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham in those sports which are not part of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games programme.

An “elite development pathway” means a development pathway established by the national governing body of a sport to prepare athletes (a) so that they may derive a living from competing in that sport, or (b) to compete in that sport in the Olympic or Paralympic Games.

Stage Two training can be described as the resumption of close contact (interaction within the two metre social distancing boundary) training where pairs, small groups and/or teams will be able to interact in much closer contact (e.g. close quarters coaching, combat sports sparring, teams sports tackling, technical equipment sharing, etc).

The progression of training into Stage Two is vital to prepare fully for the return of competitive sporting fixtures in many sports. Close contact training is required to replicate match formations and conditions, so that the sport-specific demands can be placed on the body, mind and senses. Close contact training develops the sport-specific fitness which is an essential element for player safety and a reduced risk of injury during competition. It is anticipated that engaging in this type of training would start with smaller ‘clusters’ of 2-3 athletes and eventually progress to larger groups of 4-12 athletes, and ultimately full team training, without social distancing possible at all times. Under Stage Two conditions, as per Stage One, social distancing will continue to be the expectation at all other times aside from technical training.

The purpose of this Stage Two guidance is to build upon the Stage One guidance and define an additional set of minimum ‘return to training’ considerations, on behalf of DCMS, that will help elite sports organisations and teams to deliver a return to close contact training. This document outlines guidance that applies to all athletes, players and the staff who support them. No resumption of Stage Two training, where risk of transmission is increased, should go ahead without a documented risk assessment and risk mitigation strategy that addresses the points raised in this guidance.

All aspects of the published Stage One guidance apply to underpin Stage Two, except in those cases where guidance presented for Stage Two offers a clear progression for close contact training circumstances.

Stage Two guidance for sports and support service providers

1. Stage Two is a progression from Stage One. No sports or service providers should begin at Stage Two, and must have completed Stage One with a formal assessment of safe operability at the end, before proceeding to Stage Two.

2. The COVID-19 officer(s) for each Club/Team/Training Group should conduct a risk assessment and form a risk mitigation strategy prior to the resumption of Stage Two training, which should build upon the Stage One risk assessment and mitigation plan. The Stage Two element should encompass the following sub-headings of specific risk considerations:

• Training facilities and environment

• Athletes, coaches and wider staff interactions (e.g. medical support practitioners, Paralympic guides/carers)

• Sport specific activity with reference to the number, duration and nature of close and face to face contacts for athletes and support staff during all training activities to inform a sport specific close contact exposure risk assessment

3. The risk assessment and mitigation plan should include but not be restricted to:

• Defining how Stage Two training exercises will be appropriately modified so that the time spent by two or more individuals within a 2-metre distance of one another, and level of face to face contact, is kept to a reasonable minimum, consistent with effective training

• Ensuring hygiene protocols and risk mitigation strategies are in place for the use of sports specific items that may be shared by athletes and coaches or be a point of interaction between individuals because of Stage Two training. These items may include but not be limited to balls, technical clothing (i.e. combat gloves and pads, judogi), technical equipment (e.g. wheelchairs, shared boats), tackle bags and other similar technical accessories, and protective equipment. These instances of equipment sharing, and interaction points, should be minimised or eliminated wherever possible.

• Clearly articulating which staff and athletes are considered essential to conduct an effective Stage Two training session and limiting attendance to this list. Within the ‘essential staff’ cohort, minimum determined numbers for medical supervision of sessions should be in place to maintain a minimised injury and illness risk/NHS burden as a priority consideration. Appropriate healthcare support also needs to meet the demands of any COVID-19 player/staff assessments.

• Ensuring that social distancing is maintained during all preparatory or post training activities, briefings etc. The exemption on social distancing is for the period of actual training itself but not to activities which are peripheral (under which all existing HM Govt restrictions still apply)

• Communicating to the athlete cohort(s) the maximum number of athletes allowed to engage in the Stage Two training activity at any one time

• Defining what close contact coaching practices (technical coaching and physical coaching) should be classed as essential and therefore delivered under the Stage Two context in line with the chosen training activities. In cases deemed as essential, the risk mitigation strategy should outline the precautions that should be taken including minimum hygiene practices (e.g. hand washing) and the use of any reasonable PPE relevant to the interaction(s) (e.g. disposable gloves).

• Defining what treatment by medical, physiotherapy and soft tissue therapists should be classed as essential and delivered under the Stage Two conditions. In cases deemed as essential, the risk mitigation strategy should outline the precautions medical staff should take in keeping with current PHE advice such as the use of health care setting and athlete infection risk appropriate PPE that is also influenced by the procedure or treatment being conducted at that time.

• Determining what level of monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms or testing for COVID-19 is required to engage athletes and staff in a Stage Two training scenario that has as reasonable a level of risk mitigation as possible. This may include approaches over and above, including Antigen testing, but no less than the questionnaire checks that are set out in Stage One guidance.

• Ensuring that, where possible, training takes place outdoors or, if indoors, in a space where ventilation is as optimised as reasonable

• Ensuring that appropriate social distancing and high standards of personal hygiene can be maintained whenever possible during the Stage Two training sessions including any pre and post training activity

• Keeping meticulous, time and date sensitive, written records of player groups and interactions

• Ensuring that there is no swapping between designated ‘small clusters’ or between ‘larger groups’ unless strictly required for realistic training. Any such swapping should be meticulously recorded. This is to reduce the risk of whole squad impact in the event of an athlete contracting COVID-19

4. The relevant sporting body responsible for each Club/Team/Training Group should ensure coaches and athletes are briefed on, understand and are able to operate within the risk mitigation strategy associated with Stage Two training. An emphasis on the maintenance of strict and frequent personal hygiene measures should be included as part of these briefings. It will be for individual sports to agree with their athletes any conditions for their engagement in Stage Two training. All athletes and staff should also be clear on their route to ‘opt out’ of the Stage Two training environment at any time without any resulting discrimination not associated with the potential natural competitive impact resulting from any loss of training time.

5. Sports should continually assess whether the extent to which Stage Two is applied in their training environment means a different level of COVID-19 symptoms monitoring or possible testing is required to mitigate the increased risks that come with close contact training. Symptom monitoring and testing approaches are likely to develop over time, as understanding in this area improves. Therefore, each sport should continue to regularly reassess their risk assessment and mitigation strategy via their named COVID-19 officer (physician), who is required to maintain familiarity with the emerging evidence related to post-COVID-19 pathology.

6. Due to the unavoidable increased risk of transmission under Stage Two conditions the COVID-19 officer should re-emphasise the need for all individuals engaging with the training environment to abide by government and PHE guidelines whilst away from the training facility. Specifically, adherence to social distancing rules always when away from Stage Two training, maintaining high standards of personal hygiene to reduce the risk of transmission, and never attending a training venue if in the slightest doubt about possible COVID-19 symptoms.

7. Due to the increased risk of transmission under Stage Two conditions the COVID-19 officer must have a clear policy for managing a COVID-19 positive individual and abide by government and PHE guidelines and reporting requirements.

8. Once Tier 2 training resumes, any cases identified as a result of club/sport organised testing, will have immediate implications for contact tracing (as social distancing is breached under Tier 2 training conditions). Such instances must be notified immediately to the local Health Protection Unit of Public Health England.

Additional Stage Two guidance for elite training centre hosts and operators

1. Host/operators of venues should liaise with sports and take joint steps to confine the behavioural practice of close contact to Stage Two training environments only. This includes making informed assessments about which other aspects of training venues that are shared and/or commonly used for social interaction and carry an increased risk of transmission through reduced social distancing and common surfaces. Only those that are essential should remain open. Areas for consideration include, but are not limited to changing rooms, cafeterias, athlete lounges, team rooms and recovery spaces. Spaces remaining open must be socially distanced. The exempting from social distancing applies to the actual sport training itself but NOT to activities which are peripheral to this (under which all existing HM Govt restrictions still apply).

2. Host/operators of venues being used for Stage Two should consult with all sports proposing to utilise their venue for Stage Two training and agree the specific training space(s) where Stage Two training will take place. Host/operators should ensure that any venue modifications required to operate the Stage Two training environment in line with risk assessments can be achieved while maintaining social distancing and hygiene to government standards elsewhere. In particular there should be no opportunity for social distancing to be breached between training clusters or between different sports; and no opportunities for the wider formation of large non socially distanced groups whether formal or spontaneous.

3. Hosts/operators of venues being used for Stage Two return to training should take active steps to ensure that close contact training, coaching and support within their facility does not invalidate their relevant insurance cover while COVID-19 social distancing rules remain in place.

Authorship

The guidance has been produced by a working group of leaders, Chief Medical Officers and partner organisation representatives including institutes, athlete representative bodies and sport venue hosts across Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports in collaboration with DCMS, PHE, DHSC and UK Sport.