As you are certainly aware, group sporting activities of all types have been banned in BC during the present COVID19 pandemic. However, British Columbia has been notably successful in controlling community transmission of the COVID virus, and the province has therefore decided to carefully begin loosening the current restrictions. Overall provincial guidelines for this staged process are being developed, and these will also apply to sports organizations such as OBC and its affiliated clubs. Orienteering Canada is also developing a similar document for the orienteering community, which is expected to be released very soon.

OBC, together with its clubs, will be expected to use this information to craft a sport-specific set of re-opening guidelines, and to get these approved by our provincial funding body (viaSport).

The Provincial Health Officer’s direction to sports organizations is that re-opening guidelines should cover three things:

• processes to open safely
• measures to keep people safe to avoid further outbreaks
• a plan in the event that a case or an outbreak should occur

The guidelines should consider how organizations will operate for athletes, coaches, staff and volunteers.

Once the Orienteering BC guidelines have been drafted and approved by the OBC Board of Directors, they will be submitted to viaSport for approval, and the final version will be distributed to orienteering clubs across the province, as well as being posted on the OBC website.

In the meantime, stay safe and stay well!