Davis, CA January 19, 2021
This week, after long and strenuous conversations with UC Davis, their Sports Club Department, and Yolo County Health officials, the UC Davis Men’s Rugby Team officially commenced the 2021 season with a goal of playing ‘some’ league games in the spring! With established protocols and approval from all parties involved, we've been allowed to practice in a socially-distanced fashion with measures including:
Weekly COVID-19 exams to monitor and report exposures
Daily symptom surveys
Wearing masks at all times
Practicing outdoors
Maintaining a distance of at least 6ft apart
Maintaining groups of 9 or less including an assigned coach, and remaining within assigned zones during activities
Minimally shared equipment including balls, cones, and poles.
Equipment sanitation stations (each zone) using warm water and bleach for balls, cones, and poles
Local sanitation stations (each coach) using spray bottles and isopropyl alcohol
Hand sanitation stations between the practice zones and student-athlete belongings area
While we're excited to have our side back on the pitch, our first and foremost priority remains the health of our student-athletes. The coaches, alumni board, and officers have worked tirelessly over the last few months to make sure we're not only safe and in compliance with all associated guidelines, but that we give the club the greatest chance of success in it's upcoming season. Our hope and plan is to utilize this time of hardship and restriction to forge a foundation of which we can build atop of. With an initial attendance of 14-18 players (6 new), and many still out of town and hoping to return in the coming weeks, we are off to a promising start. Our coaches and officers are not only hard at work building skill sets and a knowledge base, but also implementing standards, philosophies, and avenues for club growth.
We hope to see you soon, but until then, know we are all hard at work building up this program and sport we all love!
Thank you all for your support! Go Ags!