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* Venues such as nursing homes that have large at-risk populations should be avoided. | * Venues such as nursing homes that have large at-risk populations should be avoided. | ||
* Venues that are geographically isolated may increase the risk of contagion during travel. | * Venues that are geographically isolated may increase the risk of contagion during travel. | ||
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When laying out the floor plan for your event, minimize opportunities for players to | When laying out the floor plan for your event, minimize opportunities for players to | ||
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* Post multiple copies of standings and pairings in different parts of the room | * Post multiple copies of standings and pairings in different parts of the room | ||
* If you offer food and beverages, make sure that they are packaged to prevent airborne contamination, and place them in different parts of the room to keep participants apart. | * If you offer food and beverages, make sure that they are packaged to prevent airborne contamination, and place them in different parts of the room to keep participants apart. | ||
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Post notices reminding participants to wash their hands after each round, and offer | Post notices reminding participants to wash their hands after each round, and offer | ||
hand hygiene stations where possible. | hand hygiene stations where possible. | ||
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=== Scheduling rounds === | === Scheduling rounds === | ||
COVID-19 is a disease caused by a coronavirus first discovered in 2019. As of early 2020, it has had a serious impact on the global travel and convention industry, and resulted in the cancellation of some SCRABBLE tournaments overseas.
It is easy to communicate respiratory diseases when playing SCRABBLE, because opponents face each other in close proximity and handle playing equipment that has been handled by many other players. They also often compete in confined and/or public spaces, and may be exposed to many fellow travellers on their way to and from events.
We recommend that all participants carefully assess their health risk when competing in SCRABBLE tournaments, and follow best practices to help mitigate their risk of contracting not just COVID-19, but other contagious diseases such as influenza.
A NASPA member in good standing has a right to participate in NASPA-sanctioned events, unless the supervising director has good reason to refuse their participation.
A player who has a severe contagious airborne disease should be refused participation on the grounds that they endanger the rest of the participants.
While our advice here is tailored to the needs of SCRABBLE players, all participants should regularly check recommendations from public health authorities for up-to-date and possibly locally specific advice. In preparing this page, we have consulted:
If you have a fever and/or a severe contagious airborne disease (such as COVID-19, influenza, chickenpox or measles), do not go to a SCRABBLE club or tournament where you may spread it to others.
If you have a contagious airborne disease and you are sure that it is not severe, consider staying home anyway from SCRABBLE clubs and tournaments. If you do go, make sure that tournament staff and your opponents are aware of your condition. Wear a face mask, and disinfect your hands after each time that they come near your face. Use either 60%+ alcohol-based hand sanitizer, or warm soap and water. If you have to leave the playing area to wash your hands, do so under the terms of Rule IV.L (Leaving the Playing Area During a Game).
If you have to sneeze or cough, and are not wearing a face mask, do so into a tissue or your elbow and away from all playing equipment and players. Then pause the clock and call the director to discuss whether you should withdraw from the event.
If you are immunosuppressed, make sure that tournament staff are aware of your condition. Consider avoiding SCRABBLE clubs and tournaments where there are local outbreaks of infectious diseases. Follow your doctor’s advice to protect yourself as appropriate. If you become aware after an event has started that your participation is endangering your health, inform the director as soon as you can, and withdraw from the event. According to Rule V.K. (Forfeits and Byes), if you leave mid-game you will be awarded a rated loss for the game in progress; any subsequent games will not affect your rating.
Even if you feel healthy, you may be incubating a serious disease, and you can also spread germs from other players. Wash your hands regularly, and don’t touch your face unless your hands are clean.
Engage in “social distancing” by not shaking hands with fellow players.
Wash your hands thoroughly at least before and after each round. This is to remove germs that your hands have picked up from playing equipment, furniture, keyboards, door handles, etc.
Thoroughly means wetting your hands, soaping them, reciting all the anagrams of AEINRST at a reasonable pace three times while lathering all surfaces of your hands, rinsing them, turning off the water without touching anything, and drying your hands without recontaminating them.
If you cannot wash your hands, then you can try disinfecting them with 60%+ alcohol-based hand sanitizer, used according to directions. This is not as effective as washing your hands, but may be more convenient during play.
Studies have shown that electronic equipment can be disinfected simply by being wiped with a damp (not wet) lint-free cloth. In fact, many modern devices have delicate coatings on screens, leading manufacturers to recommend nothing stronger than distilled water on cleaning cloths.
Where possible, keyboards and touch screens should be wiped down between uses.
Players are encouraged to use authorized software on their own mobile devices for word adjudication. Rule IV.J.1 (Software Lookup Procedure) lists which actions should be taken by the challenger and the player being challenged. If a personal mobile device is being used for adjudication, the owner of the device should take all actions necessary to operate their device for both players according to their specific verbal instructions.
After each event: wash playing tiles and tile bags, wipe down racks and board with disinfectant wipes, and disinfect clocks and adjudication devices following manufacturer’s instructions.
Follow official news sources closely to anticipate measures that will be taken to address outbreaks, and communicate them to your players. Be open with your players about your planning process, including how you will decide if the event needs to be cancelled, and how you will treat sick players.
During an outbreak, allow for more redundancy in all aspects of your planning. Consider that any of the following may be unavailable on short notice: key personnel (including yourself), equipment, playing space, and players.
Allow for the possibility that your event may have to be cancelled, or that players (especially those who are travelling) may have to cancel their plans. When negotiating space with a new venue, discuss COVID-19 specifically, and make sure that any fees you pay can at least be credited toward a future event post-outbreak.
Similarly, although it is NASPA’s position to remain independent of financial transactions between players and directors, we believe that it is in everyone’s long-term best interest for directors to be as lenient as they can about entry fee cancellation policies where COVID-19 is concerned.
When choosing a venue for your event, evaluate the risk associated with the location.
contagion, and can make contact tracing challenging.
When laying out the floor plan for your event, minimize opportunities for players to
congregate in close proximity. If possible, ask players to keep a two-metre distance from
each other when not playing.
Post notices reminding participants to wash their hands after each round, and offer hand hygiene stations where possible.
If you have a large number of players who are diligently washing their hands after each round, you may find your tournament schedule delayed by lack of capacity of hand-washing stations. Plan accordingly by padding your schedule, and be lenient in the application of Rule III.C. (Arriving Late) when toilets and sinks are overcrowded.
Keep players at the same tables as much as possible, to minimize sharing equipment. At least one player at each game should stay at the same board in the next round.
If you have access to them, consider adding to your tournament supplies:
Be aware of the nearest emergency medical services. if there are medical doctors participating, check with them about their availability to intervene if needed.
Copyright © 2024 NASPA All rights reserved. SCRABBLE is a trademark of Hasbro, Inc. in the USA and Canada, and of Mattel, Inc. elsewhere. NASPA and its activities are neither endorsed by nor affiliated with Hasbro or Mattel. For more information about NASPA or for comments or issues with this page, please email us.