Regina city councillor calling on province to allow some organized sports

A Regina city councillor wantssome organized sports to be allowed to start back up.

Jerry Flegel proposed a motion at the Wednesday's Regina city council meeting asking council to petition the provincial government to allow people to participate in organized sports that meet physical distancing guidelines.

"It's about physical and mental health," he said.

Flegel's motion said people could play "tennis, pickleball, lawn bowling, cricket, figure skating, some track and field activities, modified versions of baseball and slo-pitch and any other organized sporting activities deemed to meet the guidelines."

He also asked council to look into additional measures that could ensure the safety of participants, like using masks and not having spectators.

The motion was put aside in favour offollow the process the provincial government is going with, Flegel said.

Flegel said city administration has done a great job in restarting some thing, but needs a push to look into other options.

He said there are ways that people can play safely. For example,two people from one household could play doubles tennis against two people from another.

"People were talking that maybe the ball, the paddle all those different types of things might have a spreading effect," Flegel said. "I talked to Pickleball Regina as an example and they said 'No we'll bleach the balls, we'll bleach the paddles, will do all the right things.'"

Getting people outside could help their mental wellbeing in a stressful time, he said.

"Mental health calls are up. Shut-ins are up. We're hearing about people having issues with children. We're hearing people having issues with family problems, because they're kind of locked into a home."

Flegel said he's received a 500-signature petition asking the city to open playgrounds. He said sometimes a simple walk doesn't do the trick for a family.

"People are doing all kinds of different things to kind of keep going but I know I've talked to people and they're saying it's wearing really thin so that's not a good thing," he said.