Update: No changes for Members and Clubs confirmed

Following the latest government advice published yesterday (25th May), and the reporting of it in national newspapers, England Boxing wishes to provide clarification as to who it applies to.

Regrettably, this advice does not apply to our Clubs or boxers. The advice is for elite sportspersons only and this is defined as below, so, in this case, only those boxers within the GB Boxing set-up are considered eligible.

For the purposes of this (UK government) guidance the definition of an ‘elite athlete’ means a person who is:

• an individual who derives a living from competing in a sport
• a senior representative nominated by a relevant sporting body
• a member of the senior training squad for a relevant sporting body, or
• aged 16 or above and on an elite development pathway

For these purposes, a “relevant sporting body” is the national governing body of a sport which may nominate athletes to represent either (a) Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Tokyo, or the Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games to be held in Beijing, or (b) England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Jersey or the Isle of Man at the Commonwealth Games to be held in Birmingham in those sports which are not part of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games programme.

Therefore, the government advice for our Clubs and boxers remains as follows:

People may exercise outside as many times each day as they wish. You will still not be able to use areas like playgrounds, outdoor gyms, or ticketed outdoor leisure venues, where there is a higher risk of close contact and touching surfaces. You can only exercise with up to one person from outside your household – this means you should not play team sports, except with members of your own household.

With regard to boxing activities and training, it means England Boxing’s guidance for Clubs and Members, which came into effect from Wednesday 13th May remains:

• Exercise and boxing activity can now take place as many times in a day as a person wishes, but must be conducted either individually or amongst those within a household in public spaces for things such as general fitness, aerobic training, running, cycling, agility work. Resistance / weight training is allowed, providing a person has access to their own equipment, as well as bag or pad work if confined to those in the household.
• Additionally, one person from a household may meet up to exercise with another person in an outside public space (max two people in total). Where this occurs, they must maintain social distancing guidelines of being at a distance of at least two metres. So, potentially, a coach or another boxer could join them for sprinting / running, but not hold pads etc and there must be no sparring between two boxers. We have been advised that a person such as a coach / boxer could meet someone in the morning for exercise and meet another person later in the day.
• A person, such as a coach, could meet a boxer to mentor them in a public space provided social distancing is maintained and safeguarding is taken into full consideration.
• All coaching outside of this context is to be conducted digitally or by other means (such as telephone support), avoiding personal interaction.
• For the avoidance of doubt, continued compliance with social distancing guidelines is to remain two metres (6ft) away from people outside your household and you should maintain good hand hygiene, particularly with respect to shared surfaces. Those responsible for public places must be able to put in place appropriate measures to follow the new COVID-19 secure guidance. Normal safety considerations should also be considered.
• All indoor gyms remain closed, all outdoors gyms are also not permitted at this time.
• Those who are clinically vulnerable should check for further information on the government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus

Please be assured that England Boxing understand Clubs’ desire to get back to training for many reasons. However, it is important that the advice is followed in order to not cause more infections.

So that Clubs are aware, Government indications are that gyms will not allowed to be open before 4^th July at the earliest and even then its unlikely due to the restrictions and conditions that would need to be in place.

England Boxing continues to push our cause and will provide updates on return to boxing as soon as they are available.