Following Thursday’s release of the latest edition of the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Gazette, Canoeing South Africa has once again revisited it’s submission document to government as the federation seeks a swift return to training for professional/elite paddlers.
The regulations gazetted on Thursday add new definitions clarifying who qualifies as a professional athlete, which are central to the return-to-play rules for training and competitive sport.
President of Canoeing South Africa Kim Pople says the federation has been quick to resubmit it’s documents to the Department of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture to comply with the latest documents requested to enable athletes to get back into training whilst still adhering to the rules and regulations.
“We take these guidelines set out by the government very seriously and as a federation we have created a proposal that we feel adheres to all the rules and regulations,” Pople said.
“It has always been our intention from the get-go to make sure that all our members can safely return to training.”
Amongst the recent initiatives from Canoeing South Africa has been the training of member clubs and their administrators in order to make sure that all safety protocols are followed when paddlers return to training.
“We have had an extensive training period for our clubs where we spelt out all the guidelines that must be met in order for us to reopen.
“They must have all of the necessary safety requirements in place and we are confident that they will adhere to all the rules set out by the government.
“An advantage is that we don’t have to physically open the clubhouses. We will give paddlers access to their boats and the boat racks but the clubs will not be open which adheres to the restrictions on gatherings,” Pople added.
Pople thanked paddlers for their support and patience and added that she hoped to have a positive response to their latest submissions in the very near future.