• On September 29 the Ottawa Christian School suspended the gym permit until further notice, putting OCS sessions on hold. Starting November 6, the NBBA is running training sessions at the Nepean Sportsplex on Friday and Saturday nights and Sundays.

The NBBA is pleased to announce that we will be running Fall training sessions for returning Competitive players, starting October 19 and ending mid-December. We will have access to the Ottawa Christian School (OCS) on Monday to Thursday evenings and Saturdays.

The goal is to run separate girls and boys training sessions at the U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16, U17 and U19 levels, led by NBBA Competitive or other coaches. Each session will have the gym to itself, with a 10-minute break between sessions to avoid overlap. Older ages will have the later weeknight time slots.

Eligible players are girls and boys who played for a Nepean Blue Devils competitive team last season and are registered this year at the U11 to U19 level, e.g. a girl moving up from U13 to U14, or a boy staying for another year at U19. Returning U10 players are invited to join the U11 sessions. Coaches may invite additional registered players to a limit of 15 players total. By limiting participation, we can create consistent weekly cohorts of a limited, acceptable size.

We will follow public health and OBA guidelines so that players can return to the courts safely, and also follow OCS requirements for our training sessions. Ontario Basketball is currently in Phase 3 of Return to Play, which permits non-contact team practices with physical distancing. Face masks will be worn to enter and exit OCS, are optional for players during training. There will be no seating or spectators in the gym.

We are assessing the interest of returning competitive players by using a Google Forms survey. We will use the results to decide on the schedule and fee for training sessions, then start player registration and provide more information on health protocols. The fee will be set to recover costs.