{"id":26949,"date":"2020-07-09T22:00:58","date_gmt":"2020-07-10T02:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=26949"},"modified":"2020-07-09T22:01:03","modified_gmt":"2020-07-10T02:01:03","slug":"aurora-barbarians-introducing-non-contact-rugby-for-post-covid-19-play","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/aurora-barbarians-introducing-non-contact-rugby-for-post-covid-19-play\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora Barbarians introducing \u201cnon-contact\u201d rugby for post-COVID-19 play"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Aurora Barbarians will introduce non-contact rugby post\nCOVID-19, says senior women\u2019s head coach Khalil Ajram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following a club review surveying parents, players, staff,\nalumni and future players, it was deemed this is a safe and necessary\nalternative for multiple age groups. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s something we are going to establish when we return.\nWe\u2019re going to have touch leagues,\u201d Ajram said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat\u2019s what our club\u2019s new premise will be after. We\u2019re\nstill going to run our programs.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The club is thinking of hosting contactless matches Sunday\nafternoons and evenings. For those travelling on the weekends up north, it\nmight be ideal to run the programs then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Contactless rugby, via flag or touch, is one of the major\ndevelopment tools used in New Zealand and Australia for youth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since the inaugural season of OZTag in 1992-93 in Australia,\nthe league has grown significantly in the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Currently, there are over 80,000 participants nationally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhat I see happening with rugby, is the rugby 7s, which is\nthe Olympic sport, might grow in popularity. You can have seven people playing\nseven people in a way bigger area.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI feel non-contact rugby, will gain a lot of traction\nfollowing all of this.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Town of Aurora, Rugby Ontario and Rugby Canada have all\nbeen working on a return to play model. The Town of Aurora has avidly been\ndiscussing protocols and measures on a weekly basis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ajram says Rugby Canada has lifted their national suspension\nof the sport as of June 19. Rugby Ontario is currently creating their policies\nto initiate a return to play model as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Once the model is finalized and the Certificate of Insurance\n(COI) is reopened, Ajram says there will be a five-step process to return to\nplay, each step to be evaluated two to three weeks at a time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In Stage One, players are not permitted to share equipment\nbut are allowed to train six feet apart. Here, there will be plenty of\nindividual training modules in place. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAfter that step is done after two to three weeks, then step\ntwo is pass-ball, remaining in the social distancing area. Step three allows\nfor touch and flag rugby. Stage four will be a return to practice as we knew it\nbefore so we can have contact and stage five is full out games,\u201d Ajram\nexplained. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Practices will be scheduled for approximately 45 minutes at\na time. Ajram has ordered sanitizers, cleaners and personal protective\nequipment on Amazon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Heading into what reports are indicating as \u201cthe new normal\u201d\nAjram believes organized sports will not resume until April of 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He is hopeful this is not the case. From now until the winter season, Ajram is also hopeful some rugby training would be able to move indoors to a dome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>By Robert Belardi<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n<a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-facebook nolightbox\" data-provider=\"facebook\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F26949&amp;t=Aurora%20Barbarians%20introducing%20%E2%80%9Cnon-contact%E2%80%9D%20rugby%20for%20post-COVID-19%20play&amp;s=100&amp;p[url]=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F26949&amp;p[images][0]=&amp;p[title]=Aurora%20Barbarians%20introducing%20%E2%80%9Cnon-contact%E2%80%9D%20rugby%20for%20post-COVID-19%20play\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Facebook\" title=\"Share on Facebook\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/facebook.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-twitter nolightbox\" data-provider=\"twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F26949&amp;text=Like%3F\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px;margin-right:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"twitter\" title=\"Share on Twitter\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/twitter.png\" \/><\/a><a class=\"synved-social-button synved-social-button-share synved-social-size-24 synved-social-resolution-single synved-social-provider-mail nolightbox\" data-provider=\"mail\" rel=\"nofollow\" title=\"Share by email\" href=\"mailto:?subject=Aurora%20Barbarians%20introducing%20%E2%80%9Cnon-contact%E2%80%9D%20rugby%20for%20post-COVID-19%20play&amp;body=Like%3F:%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newspapers-online.com%2Fauroran%2Fwp-json%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F26949\" style=\"font-size: 0px;width:24px;height:24px;margin:0;margin-bottom:5px\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"mail\" title=\"Share by email\" class=\"synved-share-image synved-social-image synved-social-image-share\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" style=\"display: inline;width:24px;height:24px;margin: 0;padding: 0;border: none;box-shadow: none\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/48x48\/mail.png\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Aurora Barbarians will introduce non-contact rugby post COVID-19, says senior women\u2019s head coach Khalil Ajram. Following a club review surveying parents, players, staff, alumni and future players, it was deemed this is a safe and necessary alternative for multiple age groups. &nbsp; \u201cThat\u2019s something we are going to establish when we return. We\u2019re going [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[24,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-sports","category-sports"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-70F","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-07-26 02:13:20","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26949\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}