Return to Play: Best PracticesWhen collegiate and professional leagues came to an abrupt halt several months ago, we were focused on how to help you ensure your teams were safe and informed.Now, with professional leagues preparing to restart and student-athletes returning to campus, we are here to help you streamline your transition back to play. Teamworks can help you safely prepare for the return of players, manage operations in accordance with new facility regulations, and execute effective communication and coordination if a player or staff member tests positive for COVID-19. Below, we have highlighted some of the ways our partners are leveraging Teamworks throughout each phase of their return to play.Review the Presentation1. PREPARING FOR YOUR ATHLETES TO RETURNHaving a clear structure in place will help create a sense of normalcy for returning players and staff members. Communicate new policies and procedures to ensure that everyone in the organization is on the same page about what is required when entering a facility and what limitations exist. Utilize FILES to share important information on what to do or not do when reentering a facility. Pin new files to the dashboard to increase visibility and ease of access. Some organizations have recorded virtual orientation sessions and uploaded to VIDEOS to be referenced at a later date.Mitigate liability risk through policy acknowledgements built in FORMS to help staff make certain that they have done what was required at the league level in communicating new policies to players. Collect signatures of acknowledgement for the new procedures to ensure that everyone has received and reviewed the necessary documentation prior to using the facilities.In anticipation of the potential need to communicate with close contacts, obtain updated contact information and store within PROFILES. This will allow for important information to be relayed instantaneously to key stakeholders.Other customers have utilized TRAVEL to build an hour-by-hour itinerary for the first week back. From meetings to physicals to meals to training sessions, players will have a lot to manage in the early days. Streamline scheduling and eliminate confusion around where players need to be and when. 2. MAINTAINING SAFE PROTOCOLS IN FACILITIESWith new limitations set for facilities, simplifying logistics for small groups is more important now than ever. Utilize CUSTOM GROUPS to divide athletes into smaller cohorts for training rooms, weight rooms, meals, and other team activities. This functionality will allow staff to plan effectively without leaving anyone out.Teams have also gotten creative with how they can utilize QUICK FORMS. Take advantage of flagged alerts on daily screening forms to monitor who should be allowed to train that day and quickly identify if an individual needs to be evaluated. Since dining rooms are operating at lower capacity, teams are also utilizing forms for distanced meal order pickup requests.Create facility master CALENDARS to manage the use of training rooms, weight rooms, and practice fields. Block usage hours and cleaning hours, particularly for facilities that are shared across multiple teams.3. RESPONDING TO A POSITIVE COVID-19 TESTDespite all of the proactive work to ensure player safety and limit COVID-19 exposure, there is still a chance that someone tests positive. Teamworks is here to assist by streamlining contact tracing to limit additional exposure. With CALENDAR reporting, quickly find the appointment attendees and locations that the impacted individual has been in recent contact with. Immediately MESSAGE all individuals that may have been at risk of exposure. Additionally, Utilize advantage reporting within PROFILES to pull contact information based on specific attributes (e.g. phase of return, housing location). Message users and contacts (e.g. guardians) directly from report results. Keep key stakeholders informed as the situation progresses.We are always here to help!If you want to talk through a specific situation or strategize on best practices, do not hesitate to reach out to Teamworks Support. Call or text (202) 875-8930 from 6AM to 12AM Eastern every day or email support@teamworks.com.