Stage 3 restrictions are likely to affect sports clubs ability to train until mid-October.
This news follows the news that this year's UCD Sports Expo, where sports clubs gain the bulk of their membership, will not be going ahead.
On the 18th of September it was announced by the cabinet that Dublin would be entering a Level 3 lockdown for the coming three weeks, due to end on October 10th. At the same time, UCD announced that it would be functioning at Level 4 for educational activities, however the gym and other amenities will remain open.
At present, it is unclear the extent to which this development will affect sports clubs. At Level 3, outdoor non-contact training is permitted, in groups of 15 people or less. Outdoor sporting events are cancelled, with the exception of professional and elite teams, as well as intercounty and senior finals. Any indoor training must be individual. As this level applies solely to Dublin, teams are also not allowed to travel outside of the county for training or matches.
Clubs for predominantly indoor clubs, such as trampolining and fencing, face missing a minimum of three weeks training, and outdoor clubs are likely to have to arrange staggered training sessions to keep to the 15 person maximum. This potential loss of training time could further disincentivise students from joining clubs, particularly those that cannot train outdoors, as they will be losing at least a quarter of the academic trimester to this lockdown.
However, UCD sports clubs have already accounted for losing out on the opportunity to gain new members in person, as following the cancellation of the Sports Expo they have moved their recruitment process online. A playlist of promotional videos for different clubs has been made available on the UCD Sport Youtube channel, which introduces prospective members to the club and explains how they can join. They have also compiled a list of clubs, their contact details, and how you can join, which is available on the sports section of the UCD website.