Facility Member Meetings for COVID-19

• Most facilities are postponing any refunds where possible, telling customers that programs that had begun will resume, that refunds will be address once the facility’s general operations resume, and asking registrants in programs that can begin later to keep them intact. The same applies to individuals and large rental arrangements. Facilities are honoring refund requests where customers have been insistent, although most do not seem to be at this time. Some facilities plan to offer additional benefits, priorities or credits once games resume.
• Offer prorated refunds minus an administrative fee for sessions already started.
• If you are concerned about cash and need to ask customers to take credits or donate fees already paid, consider sending a letter/email stating the situation and highlighting your facility’s many gratuitous contributions to the community.

• Social media videos – skills training from coaches
• User-generated content
• Social media competitions
• “Check-ins”: Regular communications of any sort besides selling
• Customer survey regarding their concerns and sense of confidence or hold a Zoom call with customers or parents. You may be able to get a sense of what customers are most looking forward to when you reopen and prioritize that accordingly.
• Publish a video demonstrating the facility’s preparedness, showing cleanliness, controlled walkways, new signage, sanitizing stations, etc.
• Hold a food drive – great pr and opportunity to reconnect with coaches and customers.
• Get involved with local chamber of commerce and other community businesses working on timelines, safety measures and best practices.
• Connect with your municipal and state representatives to discuss each’s concerns. It may not render immediate change but could “move the needle.”

• TV
• Lighting
• Lawn care/landscaping
• Staffing:
  • Some operators are retaining staff, some have furloughed staff, some have done a mix (e.g., retained full-time, furloughed part-time). Some operators are furloughing staff, so that they may receive unemployment benefits greater than their pay.
  • Retain core hires with reduced pay, monthly stipend, or loan – change “loan” to “salary” if the employee ultimately decides to return after re-opening.

• SBA PPP: small banks and credit unions tend to respond best to our industry, compared to big banks
• EIDL (low interest)
• Bank loan
• Ask your bank about deferring any existing loan or reducing existing rates.
• Unemployment benefits: Rather than employ staff at low pay, many will be better off begin furloughed and filing unemployment. At some point, however, they may need to be rehired just to fulfill the grant requirements of the PPP, or risk having to repay those loans (albeit at a very low interest rate).
• Contact your bank about changes to the PPP program to take advantage of changes to the CARES act that might include additional money.
• Talk to your state athletic associations and other facilities in your state about hiring a lobbyist.

• Some facilities are performing physical maintenance and building work – e.g., painting, cleaning, field replacement, etc.
• Clean everything possible – handles, rails, etc.
• Change to metal surfaces where possible, which are shown to be less viable for the virus to survive on, compared to wood.
• Devise and refine policies for re-opening that are reflective of the “new normal.”

• Temporary rentals for altered uses:
  • Manufacturing location for masks
  • Storage – e.g. personal protective equipment
• Deposits/Renewals: Customers, whether old or new, are eager to reserve space, or preserve their reservations and leagues, especially because of other business, league and school closures
• Energy: e.g. solar panels produce income selling to grid
• Gift/Discount Card program aids cash flow by selling future programs at reduced rates.
• Videos for virtual events and at-home classes: kids programs, scavenger hunts, corporate activities.

Current denials of claims could be later reversed depending on a politics. Stay engaged with your local and state politicians.

Contact local recreational operators that are opening or visit their facilities to get a sense of what demand is and what procedures are in place. The expenses incurred from reopening will, of course, require income to offset them.

• Take temperature of those entering the door (or require team coaches to do so before entry): Search Amazon for infrared device ($50-$100). Beware of HIPPA laws if you will be treading into healthcare territory.
• Ask standard survey questions to determine potential risk of infection. See TestAlerts.com for questions and online surveys.
• Log temperatures and survey results for contact tracing and liability purposes.
• If you have a membership system, you can use it to log customer check-ins for contract tracing. For example, the Dash Platform mobile app includes a barcode that can be used for check-ins.
• Wear masks (required for customers and staff): For logoed masks, see https://usindoor.com/post/logoed-masks-from-shop4ties/ for bulk rates.
• Enforce social distancing
• Participant rules: they should arrive on-time, not early unless to wait in their cars. They should not chew gum or spit. Avoid handshakes, high fives, fist bumps, and other player celebrations.
• Put up transparent shields where there’s interaction with counter staff (create a contactless experience).
• Divide the building into zones, ensuring distancing in each, while maximizing customers
• Entrance-only doors and exit-only doors to keep help with customer flows and social distancing. Prop open internal doors, including bathrooms, so customers do not have to touch handles, and have hand sanitizer readily visible in each area of the building.
• Isolate walkways to and from each activity area.
• Publish maps with your schedules to show traffic flow through the facility.
• If you have unused courts or field space, use them as waiting areas, e.g. while disinfecting an active space.
• Accept only online payment.
• Post signs dedicated to social distancing and health.
• Use color-coded stickers and hand stamps to monitor traffic and temperature-taking.
• Check with your health department to see if there is a post that certifies that you are following its requirements and recommendations.
• Run HVAC or other ventilation to promote air flow. Open bay doors, if possible. Lower the thermostat in cooler months to avoid paying for heat that’s going out the door.
• Stagger game start times so that people aren’t congregating at fields at the same time.
• Maintain strict cleaning regimen.
• Consider rule-changes, i.e. bans on heading in soccer, that would reduce players exhaling large volumes of vapor droplets, which transmit the virus.
• Move drop-off/pickup for children’s camps and events outdoors, rather than in the facility. Mark sidewalks, parking lot, or other designated areas for social distancing.
• Open restroom doors, if possible.
• Use all available space to distance your camps and programs.
• Use video to convey expectations to parents and children. Use a mascot!
• Use video to present testimonials from staff, referees, customers, etc., about your cleaning and safety protocols. You can also reach out to local media for a news story.
• Identify what actions will be taken if safety rules are violated (e.g. warnings, forfeits, expulsion.)
• If a customer who has been in your facility tests positive, contact all your customers (and staff) as soon as possible. Do not let them learn of it via social media or the news.
• Contact other facilities in your area to coordinate policies to show a unified, consistent response.
• Consider a policy requiring masks on all participants, even during play. Whether government-mandated or your own requirement, be very strict with enforcement to get the point across – no mask, no play!
• Use U.S. Soccer’s Play On guide to determine the rate of air exchange in your facility.

• Waivers: move to online system. Reevaluate whether your current waiver covers risks of catching a virus. See USIndoor official sample waiver.
• Everyone should sign a waiver for contact tracing purposes, even if you have not typically required individual waivers from group rentals.
• Put COVID-specific indemnification language on your rental agreements as an additional layer of safety beyond the waiver.

• Offer free field time to teams that have lost games or part of their season. It will also help accustom players to facility safety measures and build their confidence.
• Full refunds may be more viable once you reopen and have cash flow.
• Consider incentive programs (e.g., credits, discounts, free games, practices times) in place of refunds.

• The rental business is taking off nationwide with many facilities reporting rentals performing as well or better than leagues have historically. Get the word out to local sports teams and groups! Rentals also help diversify risk.
• Traveling sports groups may also be looking for a home. Be open to hosting sports you don’t traditionally serve, such as cheerleading.
• Find a package deal that would bring rental events back next year. If they typically hold a spectator event, consider a ticket revenue share with the rental.
• Use the rental boost for marketing – you may be the “official home” for a college sports team this year!
• Camps and volleyball, specifically, in mid-May and June, based on local reopening guidelines. They will vary as to requirements concerning masks, occupancy, space management, programs, among other things.
• Coaching and training (no parents).
• Some parts of the country expect youth soccer to begin to resume gradually (groups of 10 or 25 or fewer), beginning in July in the earliest.
• There are people that want to play. When they return, boost others confidence by posting photos and videos on social media. Ease them in with a free training or practice week.
• Spectators (if allowed): include markings on bleachers for distancing (enforcing or policing could be an issue) or remove the bleachers entirely.
• Reservation only; no drop-in play.
• Renters will clean their own areas.
• Strictly define the difference between team sports and individual training.
• State and local law will determine the extent of ongoing business. Operate accordingly and attend to the “optics” to be sensitive to customers.
• State laws and recommendations vary in their restrictions concerning contact vs. no-contact and whether groups and programs can occupy the same spaces. Check regularly for new guidelines.
• Things that are difficult to clean, supervise, or otherwise operate under restrictions should not be offered, e.g. bounce houses.
• Schedule teams in small “bubbles” (e.g. four-team groups) to reduce contact across a league.
• Weight your scheduling toward early season games to get as many games played as possible and reduce the amount of refunds/credits needed in the event of another shut down.

• Batting cages
• Pickleball
• Tennis (some places anticipating return within the month)
• Cornhole
• Private lessons
• Gyms/fitness: Move fitness equipment onto turf and courts for distancing
• Outdoor, low-contact sports (i.e. softball)
• Turn outdoor soccer fields into “soccer-golf,” and hold 1v1 competitions.
• E-sports events, such as FIFA (in-person and from-home)
• Switch to 3v3 and 4v4 sports to reduce people occupying the same space.
• Encourage distancing on sidelines (relax bench-area rules, including area of the field)
• Even with 3v3 and 4v4, how do we realistically allow play in sports like soccer, basketball, lacrosse, field hockey, etc., with distancing?

• Care Center: Offer working parents a place to have their kids do their schoolwork or engage in other non-sport activities like crafts; bring their own food/drink
• Be on the lookout for canceled events that facilities can address.
• Minimize forfeits when plan resumes by allowing registered players to bring guests (one per player). Keep a database of players looking to start play sooner than later.
• Limit spectators – e.g., one per player. Use tape to measure viewing areas for social distancing. Utilize services, such as USIndoor members LiveBarn or Pixellot, so that friends and relatives can spectate remotely.
• An open retail store, whether it is really that profitable due to reduced crowds, demonstrates that your business has a pulse.
• Consider pricing – for example, weigh demand for your camps vs. their limited spots. Depending on demand, higher pricing could offset losses, as well as help determine market resiliency to future price changes.
• Convert another space, such as a parking lot or lawn area, for activities (e.g., great for cornhole.)
• Set up space for schools or parents to rent for virtual learning. Be clear that you are providing space and supervision only, not teaching or tutoring.
• Rent your parking lot for drive-in movies. Someone locally may be able to provide the infrastructure.
• Explore events with local sports associations, such as for cornhole and pickleball.

• Hand-washing and sanitizing stations at entrances and elsewhere
• Sanitizing balls between games
• Use field and court sanitizing sprays and fogging devices. An electrostatic sprayer coats a surface (such as goalposts) without having to walk around them. Remember “optics”!
• Request or require customers to bring their own water (in their own water bottles) and hand sanitizer as an additional measure to avoid excess touches.
• Close off alternating stalls and sinks in the bathrooms. Switch to automatic dispensers for bathroom products.
• Consider lead times on receiving and setting up sanitation stations and products.
• Document your daily cleaning schedule and have it signed off on by staff.
• Once you set a sanitation protocol, customers will learn to expect it. Be sure customers notice you are following it to gain their confidence.
• Have referees use electronic whistles to reduce air and saliva being blown into the air and to reduce the need to remove masks.

• Scale down your menu to provide, quick, easy service.
• Consider serving only pre-prepared food to reduce overhead cost.
• Serve non-restaurant concession food in disposable packaging.
• Place markers for distancing while waiting.
• If possible, consider serving outdoors to provide extra space for distancing.
• Promote use of vending machines for food items, or just drinks, if you are unable to provide fresh food service.
• Reduce or eliminate seating/dining areas.
• Use individual condiment packets or have staff use condiment pumps and bottles to pre-fill portion cups.
• If alcohol sales are restricted to orders with food, find an inexpensive appetizer or entrée that can be purchased alongside to meet the requirement.
• If you anticipate shutting down, reduce your product orders to have as little wasted inventory as possible. If you have advanced notice of a shutdown, sell off your remaining inventory at a discount and/or in bulk to generate as much income as possible and clear inventory.

• Employee Retention Credits can now be claimed in the same year as a Paycheck Protection Loan, though they cannot be used simultaneously.
• Only 60% of PPP2 money needs to be spent on payroll.