Baseball WA COVID-19 Update 18 March 2020

The Board of Baseball WA has adopted further changes to upcoming baseball activities and events to comply with government mandates surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and prioritise the health and safety of the community.

In response to the latest announcement and updated advice from health and sporting authorities, Baseball WA will be doing our part to slow the spread and adhere to these requirements, with all Baseball WA activity to cease until further notice. This covers some difficult but necessary decisions to upcoming baseball events and activities, specifically: 

• Cancellation of Baseball WA Competitions
  • State League 1 - G Grade.
  • Women’s Grade.
  • All Juniors Grades.
  • Pony Girls Competition.
  • Women’s Super League Grand Final.
• Postponement of Baseball WA Activity until further notice
  • Little League State Championships (all aged divisions from Machine Pitch – Senior League).
  • Little League Pre-State Tournament.
  • Heat Futures On-Field Program (Heat Futures will be advised directly regarding off-field activity).
  • All training sessions at clubs and charters.

These changes are in addition to Baseball Australia’s postponement of the 2020 Australian Women’s Championships announced yesterday and the postponement of Baseball WA’s Awards Night to September 2020.

“Baseball WA is committed to being part of the community response to protect one another and ease the burden on our health systems with the rapidly-changing spread of this disease. We strongly agree with government, health and sporting authorities that given the current landscape of uncertainty; it is in our best interests to take decisive action now,” Baseball WA CEO Lachlan Dale said.
 
“We understand that baseball is a large part of many people’s lives and that many will be disappointed that their competition will not have the end that they expected however, we hope that our baseball community can agree that these measures are to ensure the health and wellbeing of all players, coaches, officials, staff, volunteers and all of our families are maintained,” Dale said. “We are actively working through what these cancellations and future postponements mean for our members, and we appreciate your patience and understanding as we put a series of plans in place to move forward while acknowledging that this is a constantly-changing situation and the health of our community is paramount.”

Baseball WA will be further discussing these changes with all staff, stakeholders and directors. An update on what these cancellations mean for Baseball WA Finals will be provided within 24 hours, and further updates on the Little League State Championships will be provided once Baseball Australia and Little League International further clarify their plans for national and international events moving forward.
 
The Board of Baseball WA will reassess the situation in the weeks to come, with more updates to be provided to the baseball community accordingly. Baseball WA will continue to closely monitor all updates on COVID-19 from the Government of Western Australia’s Department of Health, as well as Baseball Australia, the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries and Sport Australia to assess the current situation of the Coronavirus and its impact on local sporting activities.

Baseball WA will continue to provide updates however, the baseball community is also urged to remain informed about COVID-19 by the following sources:

• https://ais.gov.au/health-wellbeing/covid-19
• https://www.health.gov.au/health-topics/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov
• https://healthywa.wa.gov.au