COVID-19 March 18 Update
Posted by Deborah Scott on 20 March 2020
Following the most recent government updates, Basketball England have now taken the decision to suspend all basketball related activities for the remainder of the season.
https://www.basketballengland.co.uk/news/coronavirus-basketball-england-cancel-basketball-activity-for-remainder-of-201920-season/
For Brighton Cougars this means that there will be no further fixtures or training until June 27th at the earliest and the following events have now also been cancelled:
Easter Camp April 14-17
Team Trials Sat May 2
End of Season Celebration & Prize Draw Sat May 9
Dieppe Trip June 6/7
Members have also started to contact us with regards to a possible refund of their fees.
If you or your family are suffering any kind of financial hardship caused by the corona pandemic, then we will try and sort this for you as soon as possible. Please email admin@brightoncougars.com with your bank details.
However, we would ask all other members to kindly consider taking a credit towards next seasons’ fees instead. This is because as a charitable organisation we are solely dependent on the support of our members and we hold little in the way of financial reserves. This coupled with the fact that we’ve had to cancel two key fundraising events due to the crisis means that the financial survival of the club could be jeopardised if we have to refund every member.
For those currently paying their fees by GoCardless direct debit we will suspend all further payments from April provided your account is up to date. We would therefore ask you NOT to cancel your direct debit yourself, we will do this from our end, and you will then receive confirmation from GoCardless once this has been done.
Finally, we would also discourage members from organising their own informal training sessions as the reason that Basketball England have taken such drastic measures is that basketball is a high contact sport where everybody touches the same ball, therefore the chances of passing this virus on through playing is much higher than with some other sports.
However, if you do this, it is completely at your own risk and against the advice of your governing body. Club coaches will also not be insured to supervise any privately organised sessions.
On a more positive note, we do hope to run drop in training sessions throughout the summer in preparation for the new season, provided that our venues are able to re-open by then and of course we have the go-ahead from Basketball England.
In the meantime, stay safe and well.
