(UPDATED) STATEMENT FROM THE YEL BOARD
COVID-19 Update – All of Nottinghamshire moving into Tier 3
In light of the further announcement by the Government & local authority yesterday that from 0.01am on Friday 30th October 2020, all of Nottinghamshire will be placed into Tier 3, the ‘very high’ Covid alert level, the YEL Board has reconsidered its decision made on Monday to suspend the competitive leagues.
The original decision was based on the fact that around 50% of our teams would remain in Tier 1 or 2 and 50% moving into Tier 3. Almost every division at every age group was affected with at least two conflicting tier teams within them. We had genuine concerns that parents/players may not be comfortable about players/teams crossing from one Tier to another. This could have created pressure to play from individuals who put winning games/points ahead of people’s concerns/well-being. It was felt it would make sense to remove this ‘temptation’ as it should be a much easier decision to withdraw from a friendly than a league game. We believed it would also mean some teams almost finishing their league matches whilst others had three or more still to play which would have created additional work around the start of the Spring season.
Now that the whole of Nottinghamshire now going into Tier 3, we have revisited the figures. Now, over 80% of teams will be in the same level. In light of this we feel it is sensible to reverse Monday’s decision and continue with the competitive U11 to U14 fixtures as originally planned throughout November, as it is highly likely most divisions can be virtually completed by the time some/all areas come out of Tier 3.
We will, however, continue with the initial decision to postpone the start of the U9 & U10 cup competitions until after Christmas. U9 & U10 teams will continue with the friendly fixtures that have been set.
For this Winter season – Teams outside of Tier 3 or those Tier 3 teams/parents who still have concerns or COVID-19 related issues will still be permitted to cancel games without penalty and have them rearranged provided appropriate notice is given. The cancellation matrix will, however, be followed for on the day cancellations.
On behalf of the board and the teams in the YEL I would like to personally thank the YEL office team, especially Kev Cooper, for the time committed over the last 36 hours grouping the Tier 2 and Tier 3 teams together and then rearranging/resetting new friendly fixtures. I’m not sure any other league could have done this in such a short space of time especially those with the number of teams we have.
Let’s hope things can now move forward with minimal further disruption.
Stay safe and keep following the Government and FA guidance.
Rob Harwood CEO
For and on behalf of the YEL Board Issued 8.00am 29/10/2020