As the current environment evolves, Basketball Australia continues to prioritise the health and safety of the basketball community. Further to our recent communications and based on additional guidance from Federal Government (https://www.health.gov.au/news/australian-health-protection-principal-committee-ahppc-coronavirus-covid-19-statement-on-17-march-2020) and our Chief Medical Officer Dr Peter Harcourt, Basketball Australia recommends all team and small group training ceases until further notice. This recommendation will be reviewed in 30 days.

Players are encouraged to continue to practise their individual skills (e.g. shooting base drills, ball handling, footwork etc) and fitness training (interval sprints, timed runs, skipping rope, body weight exercise etc) on their own. Coaches are encouraged to liaise with players via virtual means (phone, email, facetime, skype etc) and continue to provide individualised direction accordingly. Below are Basketball Australia links that can assist both players and coaches:

http://coach.basketball.net.au

https://coach.basketball.net.au/skill-checklists-overview/

https://coach.basketball.net.au/video/individual-skills/

Should a coach be made aware of a player showing symptoms, the coach should advise the player to contact their health care professional immediately.

As previously communicated, Basketball Australia are working within three key principals:

▪ Observing government guidelines

▪ Seeking advice of contemporary health and safety experts

▪ Ensuring the safety of the basketball community.

Please note the following key points:

▪ Information is changing daily and sometimes multiple times in one day. As a result, we must all stay fluid and when additional information comes to hand, Basketball Australia will issue advice accordingly.

▪ As the national body, Basketball Australia makes recommendations to States & Territories based on the best possible expert medical information unique to our sport at the time. Any State or Territory or Local Association making a decision to suspend/cancel their competition/programs/events is a matter for each State/Territory/Association.

Basketball Australia supports the government in slowing this pandemic and reducing the peak to protect those most vulnerable in the community. As such, we will continue to provide advice as it evolves and continue to assess the risk of each of our competitions, programs and events accordingly.

We thank you for your ongoing support and understanding in this rapidly changing environment.

Sincerely

Jerril Rechter

Basketball Australia