Surfing New Zealand Sanctioned Events and Initiatives
The Board of Surfing New Zealand discussed the implications of the COVID Protection Framework (CPF) and national events on Tuesday 7th December 2021.
Understanding the current environment, it is likely we will have to live with COVID in our community and operate under the CPF for the coming season.
We need to ensure we keep our team, and the surfing community safe. Vaccination is our best defence against the most serious risks of COVID-19 and an important step in getting back to normal life.
The New Zealand Government activated the Covid-19 Protection Framework on Friday 3rd December 2021. This is earlier than originally indicated by the government (90% double vaccination was the original threshold).
With the safety of our surfing community, participants, and event staff first and foremost and the logistics of administering events, the Surfing New Zealand board understands, and therefore agrees, that participants over 12 years and 3 months of age attending our events will require full vaccination and hold a valid My Vaccine Pass / certificate at the time of each event.
This decision will allow our events to go ahead with little or no restrictions under the orange and green settings of the COVID Protection Framework and meet the requirements of Councils nationwide who permit our events.
We will be responsible for ensuring that participants are fully vaccinated and are in possession of a My Vaccine Pass in person at each event, so that no personal information needs to be collected or shared.
Taking care of the health and safety of participants at our events is our primary responsibility. We acknowledge some people have opted not to be vaccinated or have a legitimate reason why they cannot – and we respect everyone’s right to choose. We however stand by our decision, and here are some of the reasons why:
- There will be participants at our events from all over the country potentially impacting the communities where events are held
- Participants at our events will also travel nationwide back to their own communities after attending our events, therefore risking wider community transmission
- Participants at some events will be staying together over several days (team events)
- Councils require COVID management plans in line with Govt guidelines
- Our events are held on Council reserves and beaches where we are unable to control wider access by the public
Whilst we understand that participants who are unable to attend because of this decision will be disappointed, we believe that this decision will give us the best opportunity to put the health and safety of all participants first and get events back up and running this summer under the CPF.
We thank everyone for their understanding around the challenging situation we have been given. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any questions regarding this policy or how the CPF works for sport and in particular surfing events.
Click Here to see Surfing New Zealand COVID 19 Health and Safety Policy
