Chesterfield football club 'disappointed' by ban on grassroots sport in lockdown

A Chesterfield amateur football club says it is ‘disappointed’ by the Government’s decision to ban grassroots sport during the second national lockdown.
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Hasland Community Football Club is one of dozens of local sports groups forced to close their doors for a second time because of the coronavirus pandemic.

There has been widespread criticism of the decision to shut down children's sport again during the four-week lockdown in England.

Hasland FC in action.Hasland FC in action.
Hasland FC in action.
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Hasland FC has 15 teams, 250 players and more than 30 managers, coaches and volunteers, who say the ‘mental and physical benefits’ have been ‘plain to see’ since they returned to action in the summer.

Club chairman Andy Bagshaw said: “We’re a FA Charter Standard Community Club and, in line with that, have taken all the COVID-19 precautions we can. We’re proud of our efforts and, along with other clubs in the area, feel we’ve made it as safe as possible for everyone involved.

“However, we will fully support any measures put in place to keep our children safe, as the health of our players, parents, grandparents and other family members is our number one priority.

“We will miss training, match days and our football family, but we remain hopeful that we will all be back playing soon!”

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The club has appointed a Covid compliance officer, Rob Hoole, who says a ‘huge team effort’ has helped make it a safe place to be.

“Whilst it is of course disappointing to have to stop playing I think ourselves, and other clubs, can be proud of what we’ve done over the last few months to get football back in as safe a way as possible,” Rob said.

“This has been a huge team effort from everyone who has volunteered even more time, above and beyond what they would normally give, to get players playing football again over the last few months.

“Training sessions and games have been risk assessed, we’ve been using socially distanced warm ups, regularly sanitising our hands and more – including asking parents to socially distance and wear masks if they can.”

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Only elite sport is permitted under the terms of the tight restrictions which came into force last Thursday.

Boris Johnson has said a complete package of measures is necessary to drive down the reproduction rate of coronavirus – known as R.

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