COVID-19 UPDATE – 1st May

Dear Members, Friends and Colleagues,

On behalf of the Board and staff at TTS we hope you and your loved ones are safe, healthy and staying home in line with government guidance.

The sports sector was at the forefront of closing down activity and both sportscotland and the Scottish Government have acknowledged the important role we are playing in suppressing the spread of this dangerous virus by encouraging our community to follow government guidance and stay at home.

Just another reminder that the TTS Office is closed and Cynthia Robinson and Richard Yule are working from home. We would request therefore you do not contact the TTS Office. Any enquiries should be directed to:

Richard Yule, Chief Operating Officer, richard.yule@tabletennisscotland.co.uk  07739 574 356(M)

While there have been some encouraging signals from the UK Government this week regarding an exit strategy from the current lockdown, it is clear that sport – in any form – is unlikely to resume soon, due to the restrictions in place to control the spread of COVID-19. There is an exploratory meeting with sportscotland, Scottish Government and a small number of sports (rugby, football and horseracing) to discuss both the financial impact of COVID-19 on them directly as well as starting some tentative planning for what conditions would allow these sports to return in some form when it is safe to do so. 

These sports have been selected due to their size, the fact they are mid-season, and have a broadcast element and the potential to move “behind closed doors”. I would stress that sportscotland does not want to give false expectation about an early resumption of large-scale sporting events.

In addition, work has commenced to take the Coronavirus COVID 19 Framework for Decision Making, circulated by Scottish Government last week, to contextualise this for sport. As this work is developed by government and sportscotland in the coming weeks, outcomes will be shared with the Scottish Governing Bodies so we can build it into our own scenario planning. 

I am sure you will have been discussing at length your own scenarios at League and club level for what table tennis might look like when restrictions begin to be lifted.

TTS will endeavour to give the latest and best advice as and when it becomes available from government and sportscotland.

During this period of uncertainty, we will do our best to provide the most accurate information possible to inform your decision making. The following is a list of trusted resources for COVID-19 updates;

sportscotland
NHS Inform 
Dept of Health ( UK Government )
World Health Organisation report
HSE 
Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Finally, I urge you all to engage with our website and social media channels. We are enjoying the interaction with members, your home videos and trick shots. Please don`t be shy about letting us know what you are doing during lockdown. Keep in touch and stay safe.

Richard Yule.