Melton Phoenix Football Club were excited to hear the Premier’s announcements relating to the easing of COVID-19 restrictions yesterday.
However, as exciting as this is, we must note that the easing of restrictions allows for outdoor exercise to resume for only groups of up to 10 people, therefore the Club is working tirelessly to put a plan in place in regards to the resumption of training.
The MPFC executive committee have had a number of meetings to prepare for what the “Return to Training” looks like for our Club. This is not something we are prepared to rush into and need to ensure the safety of our members is our number one priority. The return to football for Phoenix will be a staged approach, beginning with senior men and women, to ensure we have all of the safety measures in place prior to over 300 junior members being considered to return to training.
We are currently awaiting direction from Football Victoria, who in turn receive their information from Sport and Recreation Victoria as to specific football training guidelines. We also await approval from Melton City Council to confirm use of our facilities.
Please remember that the FFA’s ban on all grassroots training activity and competition was put in place until 31st May, 2020, and this will remain the case until further notice from FV, hopefully in coming days.
In the meantime, we have been holding multiple video conferences with our senior coaching staff as to what “training” will look like on return and the issues we potentially face, ensuring we mitigate risk.
As I am sure you are all aware, there are constant changes around COVID-19 and although we would love to see our football fields buzzing with pre-season football training, we need to ensure the plan to return is compliant with all regulatory bodies, safe for everyone including committee, coaches, players and their families and the community as a whole.
Please ensure you follow us on social media, download TeamApp and check your emails to ensure you stay informed with our progress on this unprecedented issue.
Keep doing the right thing and we will get through this even stronger on the other side!
Regards
Michelle Williamson
Club President