FEBRUARY 2, 2021 “LETTER FROM EMSA PRESIDENT TO ALL MEMBERS”
February 2nd, 2021
To: EMSA membership
Re: Covid-19 update
Greetings soccer families,
Late last week Government of Alberta presented the next steps towards our joint fight against Covid-19.
According to Alberta Government, this “roadmap was developed to help Albertans understand how restrictions will be eased in steps over the coming months. A Path Forward outlines the sectors that will see gradual restriction changes at each step based on hospitalization benchmarks. Step 1 changes come into effect February 8. All other restrictions remain in effect.”
Following the Alberta Government announcement, our soccer governing body, Alberta Soccer Association sent all its members the following communication that includes the Town Hall information:
Alberta Soccer Membership,
I know everyone was disappointed to hear that traditional club sports would not be included in the next phase of openings on February 8th. The details in the link below outline that one-on-one sport training will be allowed to resume in step 1, along with school-based sport. This leaves the majority of Alberta Soccer membership waiting on step 2.
In Step 2 they will be considering “Further easing of indoor fitness and children’s sport and performance” and Step 3 they will consider “Adult team sports”.
https://www.alberta.ca/enhanced-public-health-measures.aspx#Step1
Alberta Soccer will be providing guidance early next week on how one on one training can work within soccer, but we understand that only presents a very limited opportunity for our soccer population.
We have no guarantee of a return to training or competition in step 2 or step 3 for soccer, but it does give us a target to be ready to implement programming.
We continue to push through our contacts within government of the impact of the restrictions, especially given our demonstration in the summer and fall of how we made soccer safe. Below my signature you will see an invite to a government town hall that will be hosted next week. Please take the time to sign-up and distribute the link to other soccer organizations.
Have a good and safe weekend.
Dear Stakeholder,
We understand that Alberta businesses have been greatly impacted by the prolonged public health restrictions. Through these difficult times, our government wants to hear from you.
I would like to invite you, as well as members of your industry association or organization, to a Telephone Town Hall taking place Wednesday, February 3, from 5:00 – 6:30 p.m., where I will be joined by:
- Premier Jason Kenney;
- Deena Hinshaw, Chief Medical Officer of Health; and
- Martin Long, Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business and Tourism
We will answer your questions about the new restrictions, the spread of COVID-19 and we’ll talk about ways that you can help limit the spread to keep Albertans safe. We will also answer any questions you have about Alberta’s Recovery Plan and how government can continue to provide support during these difficult times.
Please pre-register for the Telephone Town Hall by entering your name, organization and phone number at the following link.
https://extranet.gov.ab.ca/opinio6//s?s=recoveryplan_feb3
Sincerely,
Doug Schweitzer, Minister of Jobs, Economy and Innovation
Based on this latest development, EMSA decided to continue to wait and monitor the situation. EMSA will continue to work with its facility partners to be ready to offer the return to soccer as soon as the Government of Alberta allows it.
Should the current situation prevent EMSA to resume soccer activities by April 1st, 2021 the current 2020-2021 Indoor Season will be officially closed and the focus will shift to preparing for the upcoming 2021 Outdoor Season.
Thank you for your patience and continued support,
Mario Charpentier
EMSA President