Football Returns Amid Covid-19 Pandemic
After months of football being suspended and players, coaches and staff having to work remotely, the Turks and Caicos Islands Football Association (TCIFA) is excited to kick things back into gear, though it’s certainly not business as usual. The move came after TCI Premier Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson announced that sporting organizations across the country were free to permit athletes return for training. The route to reopening the TCIFA facilities was laid out in accordance with the health and safety regulations of the Ministry of Health. Measures were carefully tailored to our unique football environment, and implemented across a full range of activities.
“We extended, and spent our entire quarantine period preparing to reopen, and ensuring that we had every product or piece of equipment we needed to safeguard public health. We prepared an elaborate, clear-cut reopening plan which speaks to pre-entry, protective equipment, transportation, staggered entry and exit, designated areas, temperature checks/ symptom assessment, contact tracing, use of equipment, cleaning/ hygiene protocols, social distancing/ training protocols, and more. We knew that the process would be gradual, but also knew that it would be deliberate,” commented TCIFA President Sonia Fulford. “Nearly every day brings us new developments in the fight against COVID-19, so we are constantly reviewing and refining all the methods and means we have implemented.”
On Thursday, September 10th, TCIFA initiated its reopening plan. Phase I sets in motion individual and small group training, beginning with the Turks and Caicos Islands Men’s and Women’s National Football teams.
TCIFA’s overriding priority since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the health and safety of its most valuable stakeholders, so several initiatives were implemented to support those persons as football charts a path toward a new normal. Among TCIFA’s responsible conduct approach to the COVID-19 crisis, over seventy (70) tests for the novel Coronavirus were administered to full-time staff and members of the Men’s and Women’s National Team. TCIFA’s ability to continue serving their stakeholders is a testament to its focus on stakeholders’ wellbeing, and attempting to lead the way in that regard as the organization decide what sports will look like in the coming year.
The impact of the pandemic was massive, unforeseen, and has fundamentally altered social norms and professional practices. We at the TCIFA recognize that we must work cooperatively as a team with the objective to address current challenges, so that we are able to maximize on the benefits that football can bring in the age of COVID-19 and beyond- a time when lives are placed under extraordinary stress. The ability for persons to remain physically active remains vital now, and perhaps even more so in the months to come.
TCIFA continues to work hard to ensure Turks and Caicos grassroots physical activity and sector returns as strong and vibrant as it was yesterday. To that end, our commitment to the Turks and Caicos Islands is that we will remain a champion for the role of physical activity.