Chilliwack – Over the past week, some parents have expressed their anger over COVID protocol at minor sports events. The point in question, only one parent can watch their child play, if at all. This applies to both Chilliwack FC minor Soccer and Chilliwack Minor Hockey. In the base of FC, there have been violent clashes.
In an interview to be aired on chillTV Thursday at 5PM on the chillTV News of the Week, Mayor Ken Popove was blunt. “If this violence by parents towards volunteers continues, we will shut down all the sports fields”.
FYI Chilliwack Giants’ Wayne Bjorge told FVN/chillTV that parents are simply not allowed in the stands, so they have not had an issue like this.
First was Chilliwack Minor Hockey where a change.org petition to allow more freedom to watch.
From change.org:
DEMAND A REMOVAL OF THE RULE ON THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PEOPLE ALLOWED IN THE HOCKEY RINKS IN CHILLIWACK
We parents, family members and concerned citizens would like the City of Chilliwack to remove the “maximum number“ of people allowed in the Chilliwack hockey rinks, please see here: http://chilliwackminorhockey.com/article/61867
THIS “RULE” LACKS LOGIC, COMMON SENSE AND WILL DO MORE HARM THEN THE PROBLEM IT IS TRYING TO PREVENT
If we can go in numbers greater than the maximum put forth by the City of Chilliwack to places such as shopping malls and grocery stores we can certainly attend a minor hockey game practicing mindful distancing and if you choose to wear a mask. Look at the School District of Chilliwack back to school protocol below. It is very funny how we can have a school full of kids, all their teachers under one roof but not a rink full of kids and all their parents under one roof. Simply have the rink staff keep the washrooms disinfected & maintain mindful distance from one another. https://sd33.bc.ca/sites/sd33.bc.ca/files/2020-08/Chilliwack%20School%20District%20Restart%20Plan.pdf
Then Chilliwack FC had to address ( in an email which went public on social media) the concerns for physical violence from frustrated parents. The insanity has reached a point where Chilliwack FC had to call in a security company to patrol the fields and FC warning parents that unruly behavior would have them and thier junior athletes, expelled from the programs:
Dear Chilliwack FC Family Members,
The abuse and poor behaviour must stop!!!!
The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly caused dramatic changes in many of our lives, from our employment status to how we interact with family and friends to how we do our daily tasks and everything in between. The pandemic has also impacted how we execute the game of soccer for your children. Like any other organization or business Chilliwack FC must comply with National, Provincial, and Municipal health orders as they relate to how soccer is delivered here in Chilliwack. The Chilliwack FC Return to Play Covid-19 Policy was developed with you and your child(ren)’s safety at the forefront of mind. The policy not only meets the minimum requirements of the health orders that are and have been in place but in some cases, it exceeds them. There can be many arguments on either side of the table about the policy and all may be valid but please know the policy, its contents, and its execution isn’t changing.
A part of the health orders is contact tracing and unfortunately, limiting crowd sizes at games and events. The Chilliwack FC Executive would LOVE to allow everyone into the facilities to watch their favourite player(s) play but we simply cannot because of the health order limiting the crowd size to 49 as per the City of Chilliwack. That health order means we not only have to limit the number of people in the facility, but also make some tough decisions on who can and cannot enter the facility. As per our Return to Play Covid-19 Policy, only one (1) supporter may enter the facility to watch, no siblings, no other family or friends, just one supporter. If the facility attendance is at its maximum then we simply cannot allow anyone else to enter. This is not a Chilliwack FC decision but a Provincial Health Office decision being enforced by Chilliwack FC, because we have to if we want our children to continue to play.
Now to the unfortunate part of all of this. Because some have chosen to make poor decisions in how they conduct themselves when they come to the field and treat our Contact Tracers, Chilliwack FC Volunteers, and Staff so poorly that it can be considered a potential violence in the workplace issue, the Executive has made the following decisions as it pertains to how soccer is executed for the rest of the season for the safety of the aforementioned and you.
- Parents and guardians must read and digitally sign the Return to Play Covid-19 Policy by Thursday October 29th. – see below for link to login to read and sign the policy. This acknowledges you have read and understand the policy as presented, if it is updated you will be asked to sign it again. No more I didn’t know excuses will be accepted!
o Failure to do this will result in your child not being able to participate in games or training.
- Because the interactions at the contact tracing table and inside the facilities has at times been so horrific and borderline violent, Chilliwack FC has engaged Allegiance 1 Security to do periodic sweeps of all of our venues to ensure everyone is behaving and adhering to our policy. Should any issues be reported, the Chilliwack FC Disciplinary Committee will become involved and the offender(s) risk being banned from attending games to being expelled from Chilliwack FC. Enough is enough!
It deeply saddens the Chilliwack FC Executive to have to take these measures. We understand and respect these are difficult times for many of us but we simply cannot condone the shockingly poor behaviour we’ve seen the past couple of weeks. Nor can we tolerate how such behaviour directly contradicts our Mission Statement of offering a safe, progressive learning environment, in which all players and stakeholders can participate and benefit from the sport of soccer while developing positive, lifelong experiences.
To those of you who have complied without question and supported Chilliwack FC through these unprecedented times, thank you, we look forward to your continued support. To those of you who have chosen to make an already challenging situation even more so, you’ve been put on notice.
- Please click here to log in to your Got Soccer Account to read and sign the Return to Play Covid-19 Policy
- Yes, you all have a Got Soccer Account
- Log in using your email and password that you set up when registering for the Fall season
- If you have forgotten your password, simply click the Forgot Password Button and a link will be sent to reset your password
- If you are still having trouble, please give Liz in our office a call and she will be happy to help (don’t email her as she will not be able to respond as quickly as she can respond to a phone call)
- Phone: 604-792-0090
- Click here for Office Hours and Contact Info
On Behalf of the Chilliwack FC Executive
Respectfully,
Andrea Laycock, Chilliwack FC Chairperson
