Updated 4pm Tuesday 17 March
Late this afternoon, Basketball WA issued the following statement:
Yesterday, Monday 16 March, the Western Australian State Government declared a State of Emergency in response to the Coronavirus epidemic. We understand that basketball is a large part of many people’s lives, however, our current priority is to make decisions that ensure the health and wellbeing of all players, coaches, officials, staff, volunteers and all of our families are maintained.
At this stage, Basketball Western Australia has decided to suspend all sanctioned activities, programs and events until April 27, being the end of the Western Australian School Holidays.
We have now updated all our programs below to reflect the above.
SBL
Following negotiations with all SBL Clubs regarding COVID-19, Basketball WA has announced the postponement of the 2020 SBL season until the end of May.
The SBL Commission will hold urgent meetings in the coming days and liaise with Clubs to determine what the revised format will look like and what restrictions will be put on the competition.
WABL
The current start date for the WABL competition (26 April) is 6 weeks away. For now, we are working towards that competition start date but BWA will review this after the Easter break.
WABL Training
Perth Redbacks WABL training has been suspended until further notice.
Summer Domestic Competition
The remainder of our Summer Domestic Competition has been cancelled.
Winter Domestic Competition
Our winter domestic season is scheduled to start on Saturday 2 May. We anticipate this competition proceeding as planned.
Your club will be in touch with you shortly regarding registrations.
Aussie Hoops and Spiderlings
This has been cancelled for the remainder of Term 1.
Holiday programs
Our April school holiday programs will no longer go ahead.
Stay informed
FLATTENING THE CURVE
The key priority in WA right now is to ‘flatten the curve’, keeping the spread of infection low and slow, so that our health services don’t become overwhelmed.
This animated gif explains it well. (Click here to view.)
HOW TO PRACTICE GOOD HAND HYGIENE
The best way to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is by practising good hand hygiene and sneeze/cough etiquette. This includes:
- frequently washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, or using an alcohol-based hand gel
- refraining from touching mouth and nose
- if coughing or sneezing, covering your nose and mouth with a paper tissue or flexed elbow – dispose of the tissue immediately after use and perform hand hygiene
- avoiding close contact with anyone if you, or they, have a cold or flu-like symptoms (maintain a distance of at least 1 metre).
WHEN YOU SHOULD SELF-ISOLATE
On Sunday 15 March the Australian government announced that as of 12.00am 16 March all people returning from international travel must self-isolate for 14 days after the date of return to Australia.
Even if you have not recently travelled overseas, if you have cold or flu-like symptoms and are coughing and sneezing, you should voluntarily self-isolate, or at the very least, practise social distancing.