Update 29 May 2020

The School Sport NZ Board have confirmed today that events on the School Sport NZ sanctioned calendar may resume under alert level 2 guidelines from the 10th July by agreement between the event organiser and School Sport NZ and subject to restrictions and guidelines in place at the time.

This is great news for school sport and the thousands of students from around the country who will be able to access these opportunities again. 

With this update, Cycling New Zealand Schools Executive will meet early next week to confirm the status of our remaining and currently suspended events on the schools cycling calendar.

Update 22 May 2020

As you are all aware, due to Covid-19 there has been significant disruption to all aspects of our lives including the 2020 Schools Cycling Calendar.

As previously communicated, we are awaiting further updates from School Sport NZ who sanction our events with regards to the remaining events on the calendar. They are meeting next week and are likely to be in a position to confirm the status of the remaining events at this time. Cycling New Zealand Schools, along with their event delivery partners will consider the decision from School Sport NZ and will in due course make an announcement on the impact this will have on our remaining events.

We have been working closely with our event delivery partner for the National School MTB Championships, Sport Northland, who have indicated that they are now unlikely to be a position to host the championships due to the impact on their resources. We extend our thanks to Sport Northland and hope we may be in a position to return in the future.

However, if we are able, we are committed to delivering a MTB opportunity for our riders and have been working on finding an alternate host in the case we are able to hold the event. Further announcements will be made on this following the decision by School Sport NZ.

All official communication on the calendar will be made on this page by Cycling New Zealand Schools. We appreciate your continued patience and understanding as we all continue to navigate through these uncertain times.

Update 23 April 2020

School Sport NZ have announced today that due to the ongoing impact Covid-19, the National Calendar of Sanctioned Events will be further suspended until 20^th July, the beginning of term 3. This extends the earlier suspension of events up to and including 3rd May.

This means that the following events on the Cycling New Zealand Schools calendar will be suspended – effective immediately – and will be unable to continue on the planned dates.

• North Island Roads (was scheduled for 4-5 July)
• South Island Roads  (was scheduled for 4-5 July)
• North Island/National Track  (was scheduled for 6-7 July)

This follows the cancellation of the North and South Island MTB Champs back in March.

‘Suspended’ means that while these events are not going ahead on the dates planned, we are not formally cancelling at this stage.  We will be working with the Cycling New Zealand Schools Executive and event organisers over the coming weeks to understand if there is any opportunity to deliver these at a later date that supports the overall calendar within the current environment (restrictions and disruption) including the ability of schools to continue with a cycling programme that supports safe competition.

We would like to recognise the support from our organisers who have been impacted by these decisions and thank them for the continued commitment to our sport.

We also recognise that this is further disappointment for our riders and their supporters who have already missed opportunities to engage with a sport they love and connect with those who share their passion. 

We will continue to update you as and when decisions are able to be made.

Updated 25 March 2020

At this stage we are working with our event organisers in preparing and planning for our next events on the calendar (North Island Roads, South Island Roads and North Island and National Track).  We are however (as with most of NZ) following and carefully monitoring the advice of the government, ministry of health and regulating updating our own risk planning along with that of our event organisers.  As the events are sanctioned by School Sport NZ we are also following the advice and instruction from School Sport NZ. At this stage School Sport NZ have suspended any events on their calendar up to and including 5^th May.  At this point they will be reviewing the situation and will provide updates to us in order for us to further consider our position alongside any further advice from relevant authorities. Click here for the full update from School Sport NZ.
 
We acknowledge this is a period of high uncertainly however please know that we will be considering the safety of our riders, organisers, officials, volunteers and spectators in any decision.

Updated 19 March 2020

 
Following the decision on 17/3 to cancel the North and South Island MTB Championships (based on the directive from the Government and Schools Sport NZ), we have been working with the event organisers in regards to the refund policy.

We appreciate your patience over these few days.

As may know, our terms and conditions reserve the right not issue refunds due to event cancellation, we also acknowledge that these are extraordinary circumstances and the impact is far wider than sport.

As such, our event organisers have agreed to issue a full refund to those schools that had paid their invoices.

You will appreciate that both clubs have incurred costs (actual costs and in their time) in the lead up to the event. If you are in a position to support the club re-coup some of these costs then this would be appreciated.

To receive your refund (full or partial), please follow the below instructions:

1. Email schools@cyclingnewzealand.nz
2. Include the following details: School Name, event (North Island or South Island), invoice number that you paid on, the amount you paid and when you paid.
3. Include the amount you would like refunded (in full, partial or none)
4. To help with the efficiency of this process, we ask that any requests are made no later than next Friday (27th March)

If you had not paid your invoice but would like to donate to the club then please email us and we will provide bank account details for you.

Thank you again for your support and understanding. We acknowledge that there are many disappointed riders who have trained for this event but in this case, the decision was taken out of our hands and the community and country's health and safety is paramount during these extraordinary times.

Finally, we would to once again like to acknowledge our event organisers, PNP MTB Club and Bike Methven. We know that riders, parents, and schools are disappointed, but these have worked tirelessly over the year and the recent months planning an awesome event for you all. If you are able to support them in any way that would be appreciated.

Updated 17 March 2020

Following the government’s announcement regarding the cancellation/postponement of gatherings of 500 or more people covering indoor and outdoor events, and the directive from School Sport New Zealand, it is with regret and much disappointment that, in conjunction with our event organisers, we confirmed that the following events are cancelled:

Cycling New Zealand Schools North Island MTB Championships

Cycling New Zealand Schools South Island MTB Championships

We worked through possible contingencies including the ability to postpone however with level of uncertainly stretching beyond the remaining summer months, this pushed any possible rescheduling into winter where both facilities are unable to accommodate a MTB event.

We wish to acknowledge riders, schools and parents who have prepared and trained hard to be able to represent themselves and their school and acknowledge there will be huge disappointment.

We also wish to acknowledge our event organisers, PNP MTB Club and Bike Methven who have worked tirelessly over the year and the recent months to deliver a safe, fair and fun event for our riders.

We will be in touch with all registered schools in regards to the refund policy in the next few days, we appreciate your patience with this.

At this stage, the events planned for July are currently unaffected.  Further announcements will be made in due course if restrictions remain in place or our risk planning result in a change.

Updated 4.50pm - 16 March 2020

Cycling New Zealand Schools -  North and South Island MTB Championships

Cycling New Zealand Schools and our event organisers (PNP MTB club and Bike Methven) acknowledge the latest government announcement regarding the cancellation/postponement of gatherings of 500 or more people covering indoor and outdoor events.

We are awaiting further details from the Ministry of Health and Schools Sport NZ and will make an announcement on these two events tomorrow.

Updated 10.00am - 16 March 2020

Cycling New Zealand is closely monitoring the COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation and recognises and acknowledges the possible impact on upcoming cycling events and activity. This includes the wider impact these events may have on the welfare and health of its members, riders, event organisers, staff, officials, cycling fans and the New Zealand public.

We realise this is a period of uncertainty regarding the hosting of public events and appreciate the cycling community's support.

Cycling New Zealand are taking advice from the Ministry of Health (Refer to ‘Advice for public events and mass gatherings – updated 14 March 2020), the event organisers own risk planning and any advice from local councils.  For the upcoming Schools events we are also taking advice from School Sport NZ.

While there had been no community transmission of coronavirus in New Zealand, the country needs to take a precautionary approach.  The Government confirmed that guidance on mass gatherings is to be further developed.  They will base their guidance on the criteria of: large events in close proximity, events that are non-ticketed and events that have a large overseas number of people.

At this stage, these authorities do not propose altering arrangements for public events. 

We anticipate and expect this situation and the advice from these authorities will change over the next few days and we will continue to update as appropriate.

In the short term we are specifically working with the following events schedule to take place in March/April that come under the Cycling New Zealand and Cycling New Zealand Schools umbrella and supporting the other events on the calendar.

Cycling New Zealand Schools North Island MTB Championships
Cycling New Zealand Schools South Island MTB Championships
Vantage Age Group Road National Championships

The event organisers have prepared contingency plans in the case of further advice from authorities or a significant change in its own risk planning measures.  These plans include postponement or cancellation.  These decisions will be made in consultation with the Organiser, Cycling New Zealand and for schools events, Schools Sport NZ and based on the advice of the authorities and the events own risk planning.

We recognise this situation is fluid and is in a constant state of change and appreciate your support.

Further updates will be provided over the coming days.

Below is the current general advice for those attending an event (this includes organisers, volunteers, contractors, riders, parents, officials and members of the public)

If you do attend events or activity the key messages are below:

• If you are sick – DO NOT ATTEND
• All those attending are reminded to always practice good coughing, sneezing and hand hygiene.
• Anyone who is unwell should STAY AT HOME
• Do not attend if you have been in mainland China, Iran, Italy or the Republic of Korea (excluding airport transit) in the past 14 days.
• DO NOT ATTEND  if you meet the government’s 14 day self-isolate criteria for those returning to NZ (anyone arriving into NZ from anywhere from 1.00am this morning)
• If you are attending the event and you develop any symptoms associated with Covid-19, REMOVE YOURSELF from the event, self-isolate, contact your health professional and advise the event organiser.