I wanted to pass along some information as we get ready for a return to school and the fall/winter season.
On June 25th, Canada Basketball released version 1.1 of their multi-phased Return to Play plan and they will continue to update the document as needed throughout the pandemic.
Phase 1: Education & Individual Training begins
Phase 2: Individual Training continues and Small Group Training begins
Phase 3: Whole Team Split Training (Internal 3×3 team competition) begins
Phase 4: Whole Team Training (Internal 5v5 team competition) begins
Phase 5: Whole Team Training continues; Local Competition begins
* No organizations are permitted to host games/competitions until Basketball Manitoba has moved to Phase 5.
You can see the full document here.
It is up to each Provincial Sport Organization (Basketball Manitoba) to decide which phase its membership would be best suited, based on provincial health guidelines. We are currently in Phase 2 of the Basketball Canada plan. Phase 2 allows for individual training, social distancing, and no shared equipment.
The WMBA Board has met over the last few months and has decided to move forward with registration. We will be offering an 11-week program running October through December. The program will consist of 10 weeks of individual skills training (small groups/teams) and wrap up with an NBA style skills competition the weekend before Christmas. We are currently working on a curriculum that will not only engage, but challenge all participants. The curriculum will be carried out by coaches and student-athletes from various local post-secondary schools. The WMBA community will benefit from this training and be more skilled and prepared when we are allowed to open up the regular season.
Participants will register in the same manner as they have always registered. We will form small groups the same way we would normally form our teams and assign a volunteer coach the same way we normally would. These small groups will train together each weekend and the sessions will be scheduled in the same way games are normally scheduled. We will do our best to schedule each session as close as possible to the home community club.
Coaches will be responsible for team communication in terms of scheduling and will be asked to be present at the training sessions to assist the training staff that is onsite. If basketball is able to open up, these small groups will have already been training together and will be easily transitioned into phases 3,4, and even 5 of the Canada Basketball return to play plan.
This program fee will be $165 per participant, which will include:
- T-shirt (branded for your community club)
- 10 1-hour training sessions
- participation in the Skills competition
The WMBA fees will also include the cost of the following:
- gym rent
- gym supervisors for COVID screening, contact tracing and site supervision
- trainers
- administration
- $5 Foundation fee
The Community Clubs will not be responsible for any equipment, balls, jerseys, any other materials, or gym permits for this program. We will re-assess in mid-December and hopefully transition to a regular season sometime in January.
If we are able to open and gym permits become available again, we will hold another registration period. This registration period would be more typical of a normal season We will already have team lists and give everyone registered for training the opportunity to play with their assigned small groups.
Registration information will be updated online in the next couple of days and should be live later this week.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you
Sean Close
Executive Director
Winnipeg Minor Basketball Association
145 Pacific Ave, Winnipeg Manitoba R3B 2Z6
Phone: 204.925.5774 Web: http://www.wmba.ca
