Paddlers return with a splash
While paddlers are once again able to train, Canoeing South Africa said events may only resume again in October this year.
CANOEING South Africa was recently announced as one of the seven national sporting federations that could return to training and competition as the coronavirus restrictions began to ease.
The body’s president, Kim Pople, has urged members to continue to adhere to protocol.
The Minister of Sport and Recreation, Nathi Mthetwa announced that canoeing, cricket, tennis, swimming, athletics and three other codes could resume training. This resulted in paddlers flocking to their local bodies of water at the weekend.
Despite the green light from government, there are still a number of areas that need to be clarified in terms of the hosting of events. Pople and her team are preparing for various national championships and popular paddling events.
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“We are keeping a close eye on numbers of coronavirus infections per district because it is very clear in the regulations that events cannot be hosted in hotspot areas,” said Pople. “We are pencilling in events into the calendar, but virtual events are the way forward for the immediate future.”
As a number of national championship events were cancelled or halted due to the nationwide lockdown, Pople and her team are working on the logistics behind hosting safe events.
“We are in contact with organisers and venues about hosting events as these are going to be dictated by venues and times under the current advanced level three lockdown. Making sure that we work clearly and safely within the parameters of the current lockdown is going to be important as well as adhering to the inter-provincial travel restrictions,” said Pople.
She noted that many race organisers had their eyes set on October, November and December as potential months for events.
“We are not going to put any of our members at risk, so we need to make sure we follow all the necessary measures set out by government. It’s fantastic to see paddlers back out on the water and we hope that you remain safe and healthy,” she said.
Pople also praised clubs for their compliance with the requirements to allow their registered members to paddle again. She urged paddlers to be patient and remain fully co-operative with their clubs and the new lockdown protocols.
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