Following the First Minister statement in parliament on Thursday 10 September, it was confirmed that no further COVID-19 restrictions would be easing until the next review on Thursday 1 October.
Badminton Scotland have since published an excellent overview of what this means for the badminton community in Scotland. You can find this on their website: www.badmintonscotland.org.uk/covid-19-guidance
What this means for the Langside League
For the Langside League, it’s looking more unlikely that any competitive badminton will take place in 2020. Our clubs continue to be on hold as facilities and halls are still not available for general use. However, members have been able to individually book facilities at the Sir Craig Reedie (Cockburn) Centre in Govan. We are also anticipating the John Wright Sports Centre in East Kilbride will be available from 21 September for badminton court bookings.
As per the Badminton Scotland guidance, play must be restricted to singles to ensure the 2 metre distance between players, with a maximum of six players per court while socially distancing. Doubles can take place if both partners are from the same household, but they must not mix with other players. General play for doubles will be reviewed on Thursday 1 October, with the hope of setting the return date as Monday 5 October. Badminton Scotland will keep us updated on what means for our league, for our club, and for our members.
We are looking in to the possibility of running a regular ‘open’ club for competitive Langside League players, every Sunday between 3.00pm and 5.00pm at a nearby sports hall. This is to help competitive players return to badminton if our halls continue to be unavailable for a long period of time, but also allow Langside club members to play with and against each other on a more regular, social capacity. Further information about this will follow once we are advised it’s safe to return to general badminton play.
NHS Scotland: Test & Protect app
All Langside League members are encouraged to download the NHS Scotland Test & Protect app. The app is a free, mobile phone app designed to help us protect each other, reduce the spread of coronavirus and avoid further lockdowns.
The app will alert you if you have been in close contact with another app user who tests positive for coronavirus. And if you test positive, it can help in determining contacts that you may have otherwise missed while keeping your information private and anonymous. This will be extremely useful for all of us when we return to play and may be in close proximity to others.
