The mission of Youlden Parkville Cricket Club is to be a safe and friendly place, and build on the best in our players and supporters. One of our club’s key values is trust, and we live this by not avoiding hard issues, but resolving them.
One of those hard issues has been responding to the Victorian Government and Cricket Victoria’s announcement, made on 22 October, strongly recommending all eligible players, coaches, umpires and volunteers be fully vaccinated, but stopping short of making vaccination mandatory. YPCC believe we can do better than just recommending full vaccination.
As a condition of club membership for the 2021/22 season YPCC is requiring all players, coaches and volunteers who are 16 years and older and eligible for vaccination to be fully vaccinated (as defined by Australian Government guidelines).
- Players 16 years and older who are eligible for vaccination will not be permitted to train or play until they are fully vaccinated;
- Club members, coaches and volunteers will be required to show evidence of vaccination when requested by a member of the club executive or covid coordinators;
- If any members are unwilling to follow these rules they will not be permitted to attend the club training, games or social events until they are fully vaccinated; and
- Only YPCC members with a valid medical exemption are excluded from these requirements.
The decision to make full vaccination a condition of membership was a unanimous decision of YPCC’s Committee of Management. The reasons for this decision include:
- The science is unequivocal. Vaccines are an essential part of the solution to the coronavirus pandemic. The club has been actively supporting members 12 years and older to get vaccinated by partnering with Aspen Medical to run a Youlden Parkville Pfizer Vaccination Program.
- As of 8 November 84% of eligible people 16 years and over had been fully vaccinated in Victoria. The Victorian Government expects that figure to rise to 80% very soon. We expect the great majority of YPCC players, coaches and volunteers are already fully vaccinated.
- Modelling by the Burnet Institute shows Victoria’s pace and high levels of vaccination has almost-halved the projected number of people expected to die from COVID-19 before the end of this year.
- The next few months may be challenging. The Burnet Institute expects a surge of covid infections in Victoria are expected to peak at 4000 new cases each day in mid-December.
The decision to make vaccinations mandatory is consistent with YPCC Committee of Management’s rights and obligations. YPCC’s Committee sets the rules determining who is and isn’t a member of YPCC. All players, supporters and volunteers, for example, are currently required to adhere to the Clubs Code of Conduct and can be expelled for serious breaches. A number of other sporting clubs, associations and leagues are taking the same action as YPCC.
Our decision will provide:
- a safer environment for members and volunteers who are at high risk because of their age or underlying health issues;
- a safer environment for junior players who are currently ineligible for vaccination;
- decrease the risk of unvaccinated senior members being hospitalised or dying as a result of covid via infection from junior player ineligible for vaccination;
- clarity for all club members regarding training, playing, and access to social and change rooms; and
- all vaccinated players, coaches and volunteers with the opportunity to participate fully in the life of the club.
Some of you may be concerned that YPCC will play against unvaccinated players from other clubs. We can’t control what other clubs do. We can just do our best to make our members as safe as possible. Opposition clubs will have to adhere to covid-safe rules on match day.
We understand this decision may require some current members to make hard decisions about their future at YPCC. We expect all club members will communicate with each other on this and other matters in a manner consistent with our Club Charter.
The fantastic rates of vaccination in Victoria mean the rules and regulations around community sport may change further over coming weeks and months. There remain many areas of uncertainty around the use of City of Melbourne facilities for example. We’ll continue to monitor the situation and act to protect the safety of club members to the best of our means.
