Dear Members,

Yesterday, Victorian Health Officials announced the easing of restrictions from 11:59 pm Tuesday 27 July and we sent out the Table of Restrictions and the Media Release.

Today we have an update for you as we have now received the Restricted Activity Directions (Victoria) (No.20) 27 July (below).

Regarding table tennis, the following restrictions are now in place:

Community sport:

• Maximum patron cap of 100 people per space indoors and 300 per space outdoors
• The density quotient of 1 person per 4sqm applies
• Open for all ages, training, and competition.
• A COVID Check-in Marshal is required to be present at all entrances to the facility open to members of the public whenever the facility is operational.

In a shared venue (e.g. Council operated leisure center), the onus is upon the venue operator to provide the Marshal.

In a venue that is exclusively used and accessed by a club (including exclusive rental), the onus is upon the club to provide the Marshal.

Note – this requirement is in addition to the ongoing requirement to sign in using the government QR code.

• Limited to the minimum number of people required to participate in and facilitate the activity (i.e. players, coaches)
• Spectators not allowed (excludes people necessary for events such as teachers, instructors, trainers, coaches, umpires, carers, parents, and guardians)
• QR code sign-in using the Government system is mandatory (paper sign-in must be available for those with no suitable electronic device).
• Masks are mandatory at all times indoors and outdoors when not playing and must be carried with you at all times.
• Use of shared equipment is discouraged, with the cleaning of such equipment required if in use.
• Good hygiene to be practiced at all times – wash hands, use hand sanitizer, cough into the elbow, etc.

You will notice there is now a patron cap of 100 is now in place, as well as the 1 person per 4sqm density quotient. Here is a reminder of how to calculate your individual venue cap:

• For a general, ‘empty of equipment, indoor space to reach the cap, it needs to be at least 400sqm (i.e., 20m x 20m or 8 standard tt courts).
• But for Table Tennis, we need to take into consideration the playing field and table when calculating our cap.
• i.e. a standard table tennis court is 10m x 5m = 50sqm.
  • According to the density quotient, it states you can have 12.5 people in a 50sqm area
  • In our reality, you can only really have 4-6 people playing on a table tennis court (doubles + umpire + spare)
• For easy maths, you can calculate your individual venue cap on an average of 5 people per court.
  • i.e. 2 person team pennant = 4 people per court = 100 person cap = for up to 25 courts (25 courts = 50sqm x 25 = 1250sqm)
  • i.e. 3 person team pennant = 6 people per court = 100 person cap = for up to 16.66 courts (16 courts = 50sqm x 16 = 800sqm)
• Therefore, if you have 10 courts (10 x 50sqm = 500sqm) and play a 3 person team pennant, you can set your cap as 60 (10 x 6 players = 60)
• As the participants are limited to those who are required and no one extra, you don’t need to calculate how many can fit in your seating areas.
• The 100 person patron cap is a maximum and cannot be expanded in a larger space. That is, although a 1000sqm facility can theoretically hold 250 people using the 1-4 density quotient, the 100 max still applies.

Please do not hesitate to email with any questions.