Public Health Agency approves one game per week format.
The Swedish Ice Hockey Federation (SIHF) came out with guidelines for a return to play strategy last week. The Public Health Agency provided recommendations and general advice to allow individual games to resume, with the caveat that teams only play one game per week and stay local. The measures are meant to avoid potential risks of exposure and spreading of COVID-19.
The complete list of guidelines from the SIHF is as follows…
- Each individual and activity has to follow what is described in the Public Health Agency’s General Council and the Swedish Ice Hockey Association’s Guidelines for children and youth hockey regarding, distance, hygiene, equipment and information for practitioners etc.
- Avoid travel by public transport and travel individually as much as possible.
- Matches take place against teams in the local area, based on geographical differences, the region or district announces what is meant by the local area.
- Each region or district announces how the matches will be administered.
- Each team and individual player completes a maximum of one (1) match per week (Monday-Sunday).
- Internal matches within the association are also to be regarded as individual matches.
- Series and cup games are currently not possible.
- Keep groups and teams intact as far as possible, avoid players playing in different age divisions.
- For games with adapted game forms, these summaries are limited to a maximum of two associations and a total of a maximum of 48 players.
- No audience is present in connection with matches.
- Leaders to the law and other functions such as speaker and expulsion booths are limited to as few people as possible.
- Come change and avoid using changing rooms
Youth hockey in Sweden has been on pause since November, but the recent guidelines allow for teams 2005-born and younger to return to the ice for competition.
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