Covid-19 Airsoft and the way forward
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know the world as we know it, is going through a transitional time under the global pandemic from the Corona Virus. Which has for the moment brought our beloved sport of Airsoft to a grinding halt.
In an effort, to distract players from the monotonous daily life of living under lockdown, we ran a ‘lockdown challenge’ for players, to post a picture of themselves doing their daily chores, kitted in their Airsoft gear.
A big thank you to all that participated. The panel of judges could not agree between the two best pics! so we decided to choose two winners. The winning pics are on the top of this page. Well done to Callsign StormTrooper and Callsign FlapJack.
A big thank you to the two sponsors Team Renegades and Walker War Game. All the players that sent in entries will receive a Covid-19 Challenge Patch. Also a big thank you to Riaan – Callsign Lord Raynor for the patch design.
As we move closer to the opportunity to play Airsoft during lockdown, I ask myself, how will the way we play Airsoft be impacted with the threat of Covid-19? And honestly, I do not think as much as you anticipate. Yes, we will have to implement a lot of safety measures, but just by the very nature of Airsoft as a sport, social distancing is quite possible. We are further spaced apart playing Airsoft, than going to your local grocer or bank! Indoor fields are not practical at the current level of the Covid-19 threat. But outdoor fields I believe, pose a low to acceptable threat. Let’s be honest Covid-19 is here stay for a long time, and we will have to measure everything we do in our lives by a certain risk level, whether it’s going to the grocery store, meeting friends, going for a walk or ordering something online.
On the practical side, field owners will have to limit player interaction as much as possible. There is and should be no physical touching of players. So absolutely no knife kills. Buildings themselves cannot be used, only the outside of structures may be used. This is to limit any contained exposure to possible Covid-19 droplets from other players that may be in the room or have moved through the room. There should be no medic rule, rather a re-spawn area or other method of getting a player back into the game once they have been shot.
On the issue of face masks.
Normal Airsoft face protection is to be worn. An Airsoft mask may not be completely sealed like a cloth mask but should provide a small measure of protection from other players. I don’t believe a sealed cloth mask is at all practical for Airsoft, yes it may provide more protection from droplets, but all that will occur is lot of fogging issues, which will lead to players touching their faces continuously to remove fogging issues, increasing their risk exposure.
The Biggest Challenge
The biggest challenge for Airsoft during lockdown and risk exposure levels, is the social aspect. Safe areas and not the game field is where our risk levels can increase to unacceptable levels. The goal for field owners is to bring this threat down to an acceptable level.
For example:
- Limit the number of players
- All players would need to go through a screening process, which will involve temperature taking etc.
- It will best to, have players kit up from their cars.
- Players will also have to wear an acceptable cloth mask before and after the game
- Ensure players keep a safe distance from each other
It will be very, important for players to be disciplined and self-regulate themselves to limit social contact. There are also risks on how to chrono players, but I think this will be easy to minimize this risk to an acceptable level.
I am always using the word acceptable as we cannot eliminate the risk completely. The only way to eliminate your risk for contracting Covid-19 is to just lock yourself indoors possibly for a few years.
Chatting to a prominent Airsoft Field Owner, he believes the best way forward is for us to first start with the Practice/Training Target Shooting. This could possibly involve running a timed shooting course. Players will then be marked on a point system. The key concern would be, to keep players actively involved during the course, of the day to avoid standing around and being tempted to socialize. Courses could be run on very tight time intervals and set program to follow for the day. Starting Airsoft in this manner, allows Field Owners to slowly phase in Airsoft in a safe and effective manner and can highlight any future risks that can be reduced and further open-up Airsoft. The next step in the new face of Airsoft, would be to create more open fields and faster game times. It will be some time before Airsoft can go back to truly scenario type game play. But we can be rest assured that the Field Owners are in regular talks with each other, to ensure that when we can go back to playing, any type of Airsoft, under the safest conditions possible.
I go back to my earlier point.
By the very nature of airsoft as a sport, social distancing is quite possible. There is talk of letting soccer and professional sports starting at level 3! Anyone that has watched soccer knows that there a lot of physical contact and I do not believe it is an acceptable risk to take. In Airsoft, generally players are three meters apart at a minimum.
In Conclusion
I am not saying let us drop all logic and rush out and play Airsoft like before. I do strongly believe with safety measures in place, that Airsoft is and can be, as risky as going to the local store, bank or even going to work. These are daily risks we all personally will have to weigh up in our lives, as we all have different risk profiles to consider for ourselves and our families.
I know I will get some players disagreeing with me and if you think I am way off the mark, please comment and let me know your thoughts both positive or negative.
Please understand these are my personal thoughts at, this point in time, and I reserve the right to be convinced otherwise or change my mind based on fear or new evidence. I do not represent or speak on behalf of any club or persons.
