Author Archive | Rosemary Shea-Cobb

All our BKL programs are on hold right now, but we will be getting back to skiing sometime this winter, we hope. We have developed the following guidelines for our BKL programs, so please read so you are ready to go when we get word that we can hold our practices again. Until then, be safe and get out there and ski when the snow flies!

MNC BKL COVID Guidelines:

Risk is inherent whenever you go outside your home in these times of COVID 19. Our goal with these guidelines is to minimize the risk of anyone transmitting the virus at our ski practices. We are lucky in that our sport is low-risk because it’s outside and it’s possible to social distance while skiing. We have developed the following guidelines to keep our practices safe. We ask that all our participants read and agree to them. Parents should read the relevant sections to their children. 

Monitoring for Symptoms

1. All kids and their families are asked to diligently self-screen for symptoms of illness. 
2. No child or parent should attend practice if feeling at all sick, even if illness is suspected to be allergies or a mild cold. This includes: Temperature of 100.4F or above, cough, chills, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, congestion or runny nose, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. 
3. If coaches notice a child showing symptoms of illness, we will contact a parent and ask that the child leave practice. 
4. If you have been in contact with anyone who has tested positive for Covid-19 and are in quarantine, please stay home. 
5. All families should be aware and follow VT Travel Guidelines and restrictions that can be found HERE. 
6. If you are in quarantine for another reason, please stay home. 

Contact Tracing

1. Coaches will be taking attendance and keeping lists of who is in each group each day to aid in contact tracing. If you cannot attend practice, please email Coach Rosemary so we know what your situation is. 

Groups

1. We have set our program limits to allow for smaller group sizes of under ten people total. 
2. Within their groups (Penguins, Jack Rabbits, Arctic Foxes & Racers), kids will be broken up into smaller groups to make a 1:8 coach to child ratio. Kids will stay in these groups throughout the season. 
3. We hope to have one additional parent volunteer accompany each of those smaller groups. If you can be this volunteer, please contact Coach Rosemary! 

Distancing & Masking Guidelines

Everyone must wear a mask at ski practice. 

1. When you ski fast and hard, it’s difficult to breath through a mask. We will let kids take off their masks when we are skiing hard and can maintain a minimum 6’ distance between each other. 
2. When we play games or gather for directions, we will put on our masks. A mask that can hang around the neck when pulled off and be pulled back up easily is ideal.

Arrival & Use of Indoor Space

1. Please do not carpool to practice with other families. Infection can easily spread in an enclosed space like a car.
2. Ski From Your Car. Although the Sports Center will be open, there is a 30 person limit on the number of people allowed inside and it’s safer for us all if we don’t go inside.  Plan to leave gear and extra clothing in your car.  Dress children warmly because we will not be going inside to warm up, except in an emergency. Kids will meet all coaches outside.
3. Waxing on classic days will be done outside. 
4. The bathroom inside the Sports Center will be available for use but kids will need to be able to go in by themselves or be accompanied by their parent(s).  We will not have an indoor volunteer monitoring children indoors as in previous years.  Everyone will need to wear a mask if they go inside for any reason. 
5. Parents should carry hand sanitizer in their car. It’s a good practice to sanitize kids’ hands both before and after practices. 
6. Leave promptly at the end of practice. Don’t hang out or let your kids hang out in the parking lot or elsewhere to socialize. Communication with coaches & others can be done electronically. Arrive, ski and leave. 

Parent Presence

1. All Penguins need to be accompanied by a parent on skis (or snowshoes if skis are not possible). 
2. In Jack Rabbits, any child that can not take his or her skis off and on needs to be accompanied by a parent. Likewise, if your child needs to be accompanied and assisted to go inside to the bathroom, a parent needs to accompany the child. 
3. Arctic Foxes and Racers should be able to put on their own equipment and handle going inside to use the restroom by themselves, so parents need not accompany them. However, parents are encouraged to ski themselves, do our masters program or tag along with us if they’d like (you can pick up some great ski tips!). 

Program Changes

1. Practices will be a little different this year. We will do more agility and skiing and fewer games. 
2. We are working on some non-contact games that can be played while maintaining some social distance while still wearing masks. We will use soft foam balls during tag-like games and use lines drawn in the snow instead of hand relay tags. 
3. We will still teach and coach technique. We can easily do this with masks on and when we are 6 ft away from participants. 

Competition (Races)

1. Individual starts. All our races will be individual start instead of the usual mass start age group waves. 
2. Inter-club competitions. We will have these when the state guidelines allow. We may do our competitions as “matches” with one other club at a time. 
3. Time trials- we will be able to have our own club only time trials.
4. Be flexible and open. We plan to be as resourceful and creative as possible but things are evolving day to day and we must all be ready for last minute changes.