Hygiene
WHA has clear plans in place with regard to the cleaning and hygiene of our venues. We will ensure our amenities at our venues will be regularly cleaned and disinfected. Some key considerations around individual hygiene are below;
Hand washing protocols
As emphasised by all key organisations our most important collective defense against Covid-19 is good hygiene practices. All participants are encouraged to wash their hands before and after hockey activities. Individuals and teams may wish to include hand sanitizer as part of their kit.
Mouthguards
A sport/hockey specific aspect of personal hygiene for all participants will be mouthguards. It is important for H&S that players wear mouthguards however, in-line with public health recommendations players should refrain from repeatedly taking this in and out of their mouths as continual touching of your face increases the chance of infection.
High 5’s/Handshakes
We all know that these are no longer socially acceptable. However, acknowledging our teammates and opponents is an important part of our sport. As such we would like to promote the “hockey handshake” as per the following link. I know many do this already but let’s get it out there.
https://twitter.com/Xenioshockey/status/1235819830562832384
Spitting
Spitting is a practice that unfortunately occurs in our sport and must stop as it poses a significant risk to other participants. Hockey NZ are proposing rule changes to target this.
protect yourself against covid19
Protective Equipment and use of face masks at Penalty corners
All protective equipment, including face masks, gloves, (and any other defensive PC equipment to be used) are not to be shared under any circumstances. Accordingly, defenders at penalty corners will need to have their own identified equipment (e.g. coloured marking) to be allocated and worn solely by themselves.
All Penalty Corner equipment shall be cleaned and sanitised at home/away from the turf venue prior to each match.
Hockey NZ Rules and Protocols under Alert Level 2
HNZ Memo - 2020 Rules & Protocols (Covid-19 Alert Level 2).docx
Sport NZ Level 2 guidelines
Sport NZ - Play-Active-Recreation-and-Sport-at-Alert-Level-2.pdf