QuidditchUK are delighted to announce that our guidance has been approved by Sportscotland! This follows months of work from our volunteers, and long conversations between QuidditchUK and Sportscotland to ensure that our guidance is thorough and keeps our players as safe as possible. This is a huge win for our Scottish teams, who have experienced particularly strict guidelines throughout the season, and opens the door to training after the national lockdown.
This guidance means that teams will be able to train once the relevant region is in Tier 3 or below. Teams will need to do the following before training:
- A Covid officer must be nominated by informing vicepresident@quidditchuk.org who they have chosen and providing contact details;
- The Covid officer must complete Sportscotland’s E-learning module;
- The Covid officer must implement a Test and Protect system for gathering names at training, using templates provided by Sportscotland;
- A new risk assessment must be submitted to QuidditchUK for approval, even if your club has previously submitted one.
It is also recommended that clubs train in an area managed by an additional authority, such as a leisure centre or university grounds, rather than a public park. This is because, while our guidance is approved by Sportscotland, quidditch is not a fully recognised sport, which puts quidditch in an ambiguous position in terms of enforcing public gatherings. This is explained in more detail in our guidance.
QuidditchUK will cite this in discussions with governing bodies in England and Wales as we continue to provide guidance and support for our clubs as we navigate the pandemic.
Thank you to Abby Whiteley and Rebecca Norman, who worked very hard on getting this guidance approved, and we’re excited to see quidditch return in Scotland very soon!
You can find all of our guidance for Scotland, along with all of our Covid documentation, at quidditchuk.org/covid.
