The purpose of this policy is to continue to protect the health and safety of all Participants by requiring that certain individuals be fully vaccinated as a condition of participating in Kingston Elite's Sanctioned Activities in accordance with defined timelines.
DEFINITIONS:
“Accepted COVID-19 Vaccine” means a COVID-19 vaccine that has been approved for use by Health Canada.
“Affected Persons” means any vaccine-eligible Athletes, Instructors, Parents and Volunteers who have been mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Health and the Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington Health Unit (KFL&A) to present vaccination passports.
"Athlete" means a participants who has registered to take instruction, either recreationally or competitively, with Kingston Elite.
“Coach(es) or Instructor(s)” means any person(s) engaged by Kingston Elite to provide instruction.
"Director" means the Director of Kingston Elite.
“Fully Vaccinated” means fourteen (14) days after an individual has received a completed series of an Accepted COVID-19 Vaccine.
"Gym" refers to the physical building and the users of Kingston Elite.
“Gym Officials” means any member of the staff, designated volunteers, owners, and directions of Kingston Elite.
“KE” means Kingston Elite.
"Parent" means a parent or legal guardian of a registered athlete at Kingston Elite, or their designate.
“Participant" means any person registered to the Ontario Cheerleading Federation, including the parents or legal guardians of any minor aged participant.
“Sanctioned Activity” means any practice, competition, class, lesson, showcase, event, or any other activity involving Athletes and Gym Officials that is approved by Kingston Elite, the Ontario Cheerleading Federation (or any of its member organizations), or Cheer Canada (or any of its member organizations).
“Team” means any group of certified Gym Officials and rostered Athletes, who are qualified in a division under Cheer Canada Regulations, who have gathered for a Sanctioned Activity.
“Vaccine-Eligible Athlete” means any athlete born in 2009 or earlier.
“Volunteer” means any person designated by Kingston Elite as a volunteer.
1. Policy Statement
KE requires that all Affected Persons be Fully Vaccinated against COVID-19, in accordance with the remainder of this policy, as a condition of participating in any Sanctioned Activities during the 2021-22 season (Season 17).
At present, this policy does not apply to Athletes born after 2009.
Public health guidance on measures for fully vaccinated, partially vaccinated, and unvaccinated individuals continue to evolve and may affect this policy in the future. KE reserves the right to amend this policy in response to any new guidance received from or regulations passed by federal, provincial, and local public health and governmental authorities in respect of the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. Reason for Policy
The health and safety of all Participants is the top priority of Kingston Elite. The purpose of this policy is to protect the health and safety of all participants by reducing the risk of exposure to and transmission of
COVID-19, an infectious communicable disease, among all persons involved at KE, and to promote health and safety in our community through vaccinations against COVID-19.
This policy is necessary to prevent, respond to, and alleviate any outbreak of COVID-19 in the Gym because of the significant risk factors for COVID-19 infection that are present while participating in an indoor contact-sport setting as an Athlete and non-Athlete, both in and away from the Gym. These risk factors include close contact in predominantly indoor closed-space environments (e.g.: KE Gym, competition arenas, convention centres, dressing rooms, etc.)
The close-contact nature of competitive cheerleading makes compliance with social distancing impossible in certain
circumstances and reduces the effectiveness of other infectious disease transmission protocols such as masking.
3. Affected Persons
This policy applies to the following Affected Persons, which includes the following persons:
At present, this policy does not apply to Athletes born in 2010 or later.
4. Vaccination Requirement & Records
All Affected Persons are required to be Fully Vaccinated (i.e.: including the 14-day period after receiving their completed dose) by December 6, 2021 or earlier. All Affected Persons must present to the Director of KE evidence satisfactory to the Director that they have received the
completed series of an Accepted COVID-19 Vaccine.
5. Acceptable Vaccines
KE recognizes all vaccines approved by Health Canada. All Affected Persons will be required to confirm they are vaccinated regardless of which approved vaccine they receive.
6. Acceptable Documentation
Acceptable documents serving as evidence of COVID-19 vaccination include:
7. Accommodation
KE will comply with the Ontario Human Rights Code (OHRC) and provide an accommodation to any Affected Person who is unable to be vaccinated for substantiated medical reasons as outlined by KFL&A Heath Unit's Letter of Instruction, dated November 24, 2021.
If an Affected Person cannot provide KE with satisfactory evidence of vaccination, the following will be taken into consideration:
1. Documentation to substantiate a medical reason for not being vaccinated. Please see the Ministry of Health's website for instructions on how to obtain a medical exemption. KE reserves the right to have accommodation medical documentation reviewed by a KE designated medical specialist and/or KE's legal team.
2. Any Affected Person requiring accommodation outside of medical exemptions must provide KE with written documentation to substantiate their reason for not being vaccinated. This document will be shared with KE's legal team to verify legality of the claim for accommodation.
Any Affected Person who is granted accommodation, as per points #1 and #2 above, must provide evidence of a negative COVID test taken no more than 72 hours prior to each Sanctioned Activity. Rapid Antigen Tests will suffice. The accommodated Affected Person shall obtain from the Director a new "code" generated each time a test is taken, and provide that code in the photograph along with the proof of negative results of the test.
Where accommodation is not possible without undue hardship to
other Affected Persons, the Affected Person will not be permitted to be involved in any Sanctioned Activity for the duration of the pandemic or until such time that COVID-19 no longer poses a significant public health risk.
8. Reporting & Record Keeping
All Affected Persons need to provide proof to the Director who will record proof of vaccination. However, KE will not be required to keep any medical records or vaccination receipts on file. The Director will simply be required to confirm that proof has been provided and record and maintain on file a list of all Affected Persons who have provided such proof. All applications requesting an accommodation under this policy shall be filed directly with the Director, as provided above.
All documentation about COVID-19 accommodations will only be collected, used, retained, or disclosed by KE as may be necessary for legitimate operational purposes or as directed or requested
by event organizers, governmental authorities, or as may be required by law.
Until no longer required, all records retained under this policy shall be kept in a secure location to which access is provided to only a limited number of designated persons who are involved in administering this
policy, and no others. Once an Affected Person’s accommodation status has been verified and it is determined that there is no further need for the retention of such records, they shall be immediately
destroyed in a secure manner.
9. Unvaccinated Affected Persons
On December 6, 2021, any Affected Person not Fully Vaccinated (i.e.: including the 14-day period after receiving their completed dose) or has not been granted an accommodation in accordance with Section 7, will no longer be eligible to participate in any Sanctioned Activities until such time as they have presented satisfactory evidence that they have been Fully Vaccinated or been granted an accommodation.
10. Athletes born in 2010 or later
As vaccinations begin for children born in 2010 or later, KE will re-evaluate this policy and consider extending the definition of Vaccine-Eligible Athletes to include those born in those years.
11. Spectators
KE will allow spectators once it is in our means to provide a Gym Official who is solely dedicated to checking vaccination passports and who will monitor for proper distancing and masking in our lobby. KE's current fee structure in Season 17 does not accommodate for this role.
