On June 14, 2021, the BC Government announced a move to Step 2 in the British Columbia Restart Plan that takes effect today, June 15, 2021. This movement further allows the sport to ease restrictions and permit limited spectators and travel within the province for the purpose of sport.  As such Baseball BC is advancing notice that the following activities are now permitted within the sport of Baseball;

• Regular gameplay amongst participating teams province-wide
• A maximum of 50 spectators (per field) - 2 meters of social distancing is still required outside the field of play.
• Tournament play

We are very pleased with the step forward by the government of B.C.; however, the situation may differ by area, therefore, we must all continue to follow the BC health authority’s guidance and require all members and affiliated clubs to do the same.  We also understand that each municipality has potentially different restrictions and limitations for bookings/activity, therefore, please work with your local cities/municipalities to adhere to any requirements to ensure you are providing a safe environment for all participants.  We would also like to ensure that all organizations defer to their provincial-level member organization on programming decisions or sanctioning, should it be required.

We would again like to share the following amateur sport programming reminders (as of June 15, 2021);

• The activity must always comply with the general measures, recommendations, and any gathering restrictions issued by the BC health authorities.
• Physical distancing not required on the field of play, including the dugout area.
• 2 meters of social distancing is still required outside the field of play.
• Keep a participant record for contract tracing needs, including symptom screening.
• Communicate to participants any hygiene measures in alignment with current information issued by the BC health authorities, including staying home if sick.
• Remind all players to bring their own refreshments and do not share water bottles.
• Please adjust current safety plans to align with this Return to Play Plan for Baseball and ViaSport’s Restart Sport 2.0 Chart, including updating Emergency Response & Outbreak Plans.

We would also like to again remind you that some participants may need additional time to fully return to traditional programming.  It is required that all participants and member organizations work collaboratively to ensure all stakeholders do so safely and when they are ready.  Possible examples of this are as follows;

-     There will be some officials who will require time to adjust to traditional positioning mechanics, or will elect to continue with the modified mechanics based on the training they received in preparation for 2021.  Return to traditional positioning is not a mandated change and some officials who do not yet feel safe about returning to working behind the catcher may elect to continue with the modified positioning. Please take direction from the Local Sport Organization (LSO’s) Umpire in Chief in this area.

Should any member organization and/or affiliated club wishing to add stricter guidelines, measures, and precautions they are able to do so for the baseball activity they oversee within their specific organization.

Mission Minor Baseball gratefully acknowledges the support of the Province of British Columbia.