SINGAPORE - Earlier this month, Ms Ho was surprised to receive a notice from the basketball academy where her son trains, informing parents that unvaccinated children would not be able to attend classes at the Singapore Sports Hub's OCBC Arena.
Her 11-year-old son, who trains there once a week, is unvaccinated.
But a few days later on Feb 4, the academy sent out another notice to retract its previous announcement, clarifying that unvaccinated children would be separated from those who are vaccinated and assigned individual areas.
Ms Ho, who is in her mid-40s and only wanted to be known by her last name, said she was surprised as the multi-ministry taskforce handling the pandemic had earlier stated that vaccination-differentiated safe management measures would not be extended to children 12 and below.
The mother of three told The Sunday Times: "I was really surprised because if (the measures) are going to be implemented, I expected to be given notice way beforehand, so it was a bit of a shock. I can't get him vaccinated, recuperated and well enough to join training in a week.
"When we received the second notice, it solved the problem that my son's training is not going to be disrupted."
She was not alone as some parents and sports academies were also confused or unaware of the revised rules.
National sports body Sport Singapore (SportSG) had on Jan 27 issued revised Covid-19 guidelines for unvaccinated children aged 12 and below on its website, with the rules coming into effect five days later on Feb 1, when VDS kicked in at indoor sports facilities, hotels and institutes of higher learning.
One major change involved indoor mask-on activities for children aged 12 and below in groups of five that required unvaccinated children in the same group to be from the same household. They previously did not have to be from the same household.
Fully vaccinated individuals can be part of the same group and do not have to be from the same household as the unvaccinated children.
Multiple groups of five are allowed up to a maximum of 50 or the venue capacity limit, whichever is lower, and no inter-mingling between the groups is allowed.
Liam Mescall, co-owner of Karpenko Gymnastics Academy, was caught off guard by the new regulations. Singapore Gymnastics - which governs the sport here - usually sends clubs a set of sport-specific guidelines after consulting SportSG. But as the new rules were published on its website on the Thursday, before Chinese New Year on Feb 1, the shorter lead time meant the sport-specific guidelines could not be issued in time.
He had to quickly gather the vaccination information of over 350 students to make the necessary arrangements. The academy has kept classes running with students socially distanced and wearing masks.
Mr Mescall said: "It was difficult to adapt so we just did the best we could in those circumstances. A lot of parents contacted us as there's a competition in March and they wanted to make sure training could go ahead.
"We didn't have the answers for them so there was a lot of frustration and concern. A lot of parents are also not clear what happens for those under the age of five so that requires some clarification."
He hoped announcements will be made ahead of time in the future, adding: "I understand that it's a very hard job and they're just responding to a very fluid situation. Everyone understands the rules are there to keep everyone safe and we're used to them changing after the last two years but it would be great if we had a little more time."
Responding to queries from The Sunday Times, a SportSG spokesman said it has been providing regular updates through its website and social media as well as engagements with stakeholders in the sport and fitness sector.
Electronic direct mails are also sent to ActiveSG Sport Centre patrons and programme participants following each change to the safe management measures.
"These conditions are put in place to safeguard our unvaccinated children in high-risk settings such as during indoor sports activities, even as more of them become fully vaccinated," said its spokesman.
"SMMs implemented are to safeguard the community, and are adjusted in tandem with the evolving Covid-19 situation."
SportSG added that operators and members of the public are advised to "keep abreast of the latest SMMs for the sport and fitness sector" on its website and also to contact its quality service manager for any SMM queries.
Despite the outreach efforts, some sports outfits like the Scholar Basketball Academy still found the situation "messy".
Its founder, national basketballer Wong Wei Long, said: "For sports academies, it's always a challenge to understand the new rules and implement them. There have been so many changes. When you have 500 or 1,000 students, there's more to do."
The academy has 100 classes a week across six venues including OCBC Arena and HomeTeamNS. Mr Wong, 33, said it was tough to make arrangements in a few days as most of his students are aged 12 and below.
Unvaccinated students have now been assigned individual pods during the two-hour training sessions and are not allowed to mingle. All students have to wear masks during classes, a rule that has been in place since last year.
He has also moved some classes for children under 12 outdoors, where unvaccinated children in a group of five do not have to be from the same household.
Youth Floorball Academy's (YFA) chief executive officer Norani Zaini, 39, said it was a bit of a rush to modify the class structures but noted the biggest challenge was keeping classes fun.
He said: "They like competitions and playing with friends but now they can't be in a group anymore so we try to implement more games like who can complete the drill the fastest."
Mohammed Ruhul Islam, 42, whose unvaccinated eight-year-old daughter attends classes at YFA, said: "Kids love to play games and interact with friends but she understands. She just has to bear with (the restrictions) until she's vaccinated or until things change.
"But any kind of sport is good for them. If you want to play the game, you have to play by the rules."
