Having enjoyed the recent televised autumn rugby internationals, with England beating France by the slimmest of margins 22-19 after extra time at Twickenham and recent football international matches, I wonder what it has been like for the players having to play in empty stadiums? It must be a very eerie experience, especially when you are awarded your first international cap. Not having any family or relatives witnessing your first cap must be disappointing for those concerned. 

With the recent England lockdown now finished, it is pleasing to see restrictions being lifted with a few professional sports facilities now being able to open their doors and cater for a limited number of spectators. Shrewsbury Town FC were allowed 2000 supporters at a home fixture played on 2nd December, with many welcoming the opportunity to see live sport again.

As far as rugby goes, the RFU are looking at bringing competitive rugby back at grassroots levels in January - although with some changes to the game to help reduce contact between players. Talk is centred on not having scrums or mauls.

Clubs have been able to begin adapted training from last Wednesday (2 December) in preparation for local friendly fixtures recommencing from Friday 18 December, when the following law variations will come into effect:

• Instead of a scrum, the game will begin with a free kick. This free kick cannot be taken quickly.
• A minimum of five and a maximum of seven players from each team are required to form a lineout.
• A team awarded a penalty or free kick will no longer be able to choose a scrum option.
• A team awarded a penalty or free kick at a lineout can instead choose another lineout at the same mark.

Further details on the variations (Law 5 - Time, Law 16 - Maul, Law 18 - Lineout, Law 19 -Scrum, Law 20 - Penalty and Free Kick) can be found here. These law variations will be reviewed as the season progresses and as restrictions change.

Let us hope with the vaccination commencing rollout this week, we can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel.

The importance of green spaces

I read with interest that Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England, has said exercise and physical activity should play a key role in the UK's recovery from the pandemic – as well as the way the nation shapes its future health care plans.

Speaking at ukactive’s recent National Summit, Whitty outlined the lead role operators of gyms, leisure centres and sports facilities will be called on to play in supporting the nation as it emerges from COVID-19.

“As we come out of the COVID-19 crisis, it’s very important we try to get people who’ve got out of the habit of regular exercise back into a situation where they’re doing so, and encourage others who’ve taken up exercise in a way they previously hadn’t done,” Whitty said.

As a ex player and sports coach, having spent most of my life keeping fit, I totally agree with his statement. We need to look after ourselves better and undertake more regular exercise as a nation to help us become more resistant to illnesses in general. 

I also passionately believe this pandemic has made us more aware of our vulnerability to disease and viruses and, more importantly, value our lives and relationships with family and friends. 

There is no doubt in my mind that this virus has changed people’s mindsets and attitudes to life and we should look upon this in a positive light. I am hoping that the government will now value the importance of managing public open spaces and begin investing more money into sport and leisure activities. Every park and public open space has been a valuable sanctuary during this pandemic, allowing people to exercise and meet family and friends. 

It is also pleasing to see that major spectator sports in England will receive a combined £300 million cash injection to protect their immediate futures over the winter period.

The Sports Winter Survival Package will support sports - from national governing bodies through to clubs - impacted by coronavirus restrictions.
The funding, which will be largely composed of loans, is described by the government as the most generous of any government for its domestic sport sector in the world and will focus on sports severely impacted over the winter.

Support will be provided to rugby union, horse racing, women’s football and the lower tiers of the National League. Rugby League, motorsport, tennis, netball, basketball, ice hockey, badminton and greyhound racing are also in line to benefit.Major spectator sports in England will receive a combined £300m emergency cash injection to protect their immediate futures over the winter period.

Vital role of parks

And while on the subject of parks and public open spaces, I learned at a recent Midlands Parks Forum meeting that Saltwells Nature Reserve had gained national recognition in becoming a National Nature Reserve (NNR) - one of 224  in the UK.  A fantastic achievement by all those concerned. 

Three of the people concerned Alan Preece (warden) Graham Worton (geologist) and Jonathan Larwood of the NNR gave a great presentation about the importance of the site and how it is appreciated by the local community and visitors from far and wide.  You can read more about it in a recent TurfPro blog I wrote back in October.

I was lucky to go and visit this site earlier in the year to judge it as part of the National Green Flag Awards and found it to be a very interesting site with plenty of things to see and admire.

Also, during the meeting, we had a talk from Rhodri Edwards from Fields in Trust who gave us an update on the work they are doing to protect green open spaces. As more and more green space is being lost to developers, it is important we try and reduce the impact of this by protecting important tracts of community green space. 

It also good news to report that the new Parks Management Forum is gaining momentum. Since its establishment at the beginning of 2020, with the aim of representing parks professionals, they have achieved a great deal. In that time they have accrued over 2,200 following on LinkedIn, a database of nearly 1,400 parks contacts, as well as nearly 700 followers on Twitter.  They have also had several positive meetings with Keep Britain Tidy (Green Flag), Fields in Trust, Future Parks Accelerator, APSE, Nesta, The Landscape Institute, the Grounds Management Association, Green Space Wales and a number of the Regional Parks Forums.

This can only be a step in the right direction to ensure the future and prosperity of these wonderful public open spaces.