Dear Badminton Stakeholders
I hope you are well and staying safe. The New Zealand Government have just announced that COVID-19 Alert Level for Auckland will remain at Level 3 and the rest of New Zealand will remain at Level 2 till 11:59pm Wednesday 26th August 2020. There will also be a review of this on the 21st August by the New Zealand Government.
This has the following impacts to Badminton New Zealand initiatives:
- Badminton New Zealand will continue suspending all activities, programmes, events and competitions inside the Auckland region until the region moves down from Level 3.
- As communicated earlier in the week - Badminton New Zealand will suspend the Northern Divisions of the North Island Regional Senior Inter-Association and North Island Regional Super-Vets Inter-Association and they will not take place on Saturday 15th August 2020.
- The New Zealand Tertiary Badminton Championships will be suspended and further information in regards to this will be communicated once we have discussed further with University & Tertiary Sport NZ.
- The New Zealand Masters National Championships will be suspended as this event requires New Zealand to be at COVID-19 Alert Level 1 (as more than 100 people will be in the venue). We have had huge interest in this event and a record number of entries. We will be working to try and host this event later in the year when New Zealand returns to Level 1 and it becomes safe to do so.
- Badminton New Zealand strongly recommends that all badminton associations, clubs, facilities, activities, events and competitions follow the Alert Level guidelines. Please contact us if you need any assistance in this area.
- We will monitor the continuation of future events and competitions in accordance with the NZ Government updates and COVID-19 Alert Levels.
Please note that at all times our badminton community should first and foremost follow the requirements and advice of the New Zealand Government, the Ministry of Health and Sport New Zealand. The websites for these organisations are at the bottom of this article.
Our advice remains simple – follow the New Zealand Government and Sport New Zealand guidelines and ensure your community safety is put first. We recommend only continuing to participate and deliver badminton if it can be done safely while meeting all the requirements set out in the guidelines.
Please note that this information can change quickly – so please check our website – www.badminton.org.nz and Facebook page for all the latest updates.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me or any Badminton New Zealand staff if you have questions, concerns or need help in any way.
I look forward to being in touch.
Many thanks
Joe Hitchcock
Chief Executive
Badminton New Zealand