2020-2021 season over before it starts?
Tarrant Keyneston SMBC
Yesterday PM Boris Johnson addressed the nation about new Covid-19 measures, which are being introduced for "up to six months".
The changes included the "rule of six" exemption for adult indoor team sport being removed.
Our understanding is that this effectively means there will be no short mat leagues this season, as even if the six months now suggested is shortened it still seems highly unlikely that any matches will be played.
The six Dorset short mat clubs who have been granted "Safe club status" (as the four previously mentioned have since been joined by Broadstone Wessex and Heatherlands) will be able to open, but only for a group of six players at one time.
Whether the ESMBA see the new rule differently (i.e. six players on each mat being a "separate group"?) remains to be seen, but even then the Dorset League could not run in the present format of one four and one triple.
We will also have to see whether other Dorset short mat clubs, who have not yet applied for "Safe club status", go ahead or simply write the season off.
Contact Information
Robin Evans
Find Tarrant Keyneston SMBC
Village Hall (Anne Biddlecombe Hall), Tarrant Keyneston, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 9JE
Additional Information
Turn off from the main Blandford to Wimborne road at the crossroads (opposite the True Lover's Knot pub). The Village Hall is on the LEFT hand side of the road, after about a dozen or so houses.