On Monday 27 September the NSW Government announced that community sport would be permitted once the state reached the level of 80% of the eligible adult population (16+) being fully vaccinated against COVID.
This would come into effect on the Monday following the 80% target being reached, which is currently forecast to be Monday 25 October, however that date is subject to change pending vaccination levels.
Importantly, the current NSW Government 80% Roadmap indicates that participation in community sport upon its return would only be available to those adults (16+) who had been fully vaccinated, or children under the age of 16.
The Roadmap also indicates that from 1 December, community sport will be permitted for all people. However, it should be noted that this date is also indicative and could change.
Unfortunately the level of detail being provided by the Government is still not sufficient for us to provide absolute clarity on a number of questions which Associations and Clubs may have at this time. Netball NSW are working very closely with Sport NSW and our colleagues at other sporting organisations to obtain as much detail as possible, as early as possible, from the Government and this information will be passed on as soon as we have it. For now, a brief summary is as follows:
What we know:
- Community sport is currently not permitted in any part of NSW;
- Community sport can recommence from Monday 25 October (to be confirmed) for fully vaccinated adults and any children under the age of 16.
What we don’t know:
- Whether community sport will fall under the requirement of needing to be a ‘COVID Safe Event’ (as referenced in the Roadmap) with a limit of 200 people;
- If attendance limits will differ for indoor or outdoor community sporting events;
- The specific requirements of the COVID Safe plan that will be needed and if these are different to previous COVID Safe plans;
- How vaccination status of participants (players, coaches, umpires, officials etc) and spectators will be checked, recorded, monitored and enforced by volunteer committees and organisers;
- What happens if a positive COVID case attends a community sporting event of fully vaccinated people, does the event get shut down with everyone needing to isolate?
There is no doubt that there are significantly more questions than those shown above, and we will endeavour to provide more clarity at the earliest opportunity.
Selection Trials - State Team, Metro & Regional Emerging Teams and Sydney Netball Academy Squad
To maximise fairness for all athletes, Netball NSW Selection trials for 2022 teams and squads have been rescheduled. Trials will now be held at Netball Central on the weekends of January 29th and 30th and February 5th and 6th.
Trials are an opportunity for all aspirational NSW athletes to challenge themselves and grow. Interested athletes are encouraged to register now.
State & Emerging Talent Team Athlete Registration
Sydney Netball Academy Athlete Registration
All registered athletes will receive regular support from Netball NSW to help their physical, technical, tactical and psychological development.
PlayHQ System Transition
As all Associations and Clubs would be aware, Netball NSW will transition off the MyNetball system at the end of 2021 and on to the new PlayHQ platform.
The MyNetball system will physically shut down at the end of December. This means that a competition can not be run across 2021 / 2022 and be managed in MyNetball. It will be possible for registrations to be taken in MyNetball for a competition starting in October, November or December, however after 1 January the competition would need to be managed manually if it was continuing from 2021. If Associations did proceed with a competition which ran into early 2022, all players who registered for that competition would remain insured for the duration of that specific competition.
We understand that this is not ideal, but it is an unfortunate coincidence of events that the one year in which more Associations may be interested in running a competition which crosses over years due to COVID, is also the same year that we are changing systems.
Ongoing Updates & 2022
The return of community sport could now be just under four weeks away. We know some Associations will see this as an opportunity to play a Summer competition of some kind so we will communicate any updates we receive as soon as possible.
With regard to planning for 2022 seasons, the information from the Government Roadmap on the freedoms permitted from 1 December gives an early indication that the 2022 season may be able to be played under more normal conditions. Once again, as this information is updated we will also circulate.
You can also keep up to date via the NSW Office of Sport COVID-19 Latest Information page. This page is regularly updated and provides links to other relevant Government websites.
All information sent to Clubs and Associations will also be kept on the Netball NSW Latest COVID-19 Information page for as long as it remains relevant and up-to-date.
As always, Netball NSW will continue to provide updates as circumstances change. For any further information, please feel free to contact your Regional Manager, Association contact or any Netball NSW staff member for assistance.
