Today the NSW State Government announced that community sport could re-commence from 1 July for those aged 18 and under. While this is a welcome start, it falls well short of what we were hoping for and what we need in order to be able to move forward in planning for a 2020 season.
I know that today’s announcement will have left you with more questions than answers. Where do we stand with Premier League, Metro League, Open State Titles, senior competitions, Masters? Unfortunately, we don’t know the answers to those questions either – yet.
As you know, yesterday we wrote to advise that we would be delaying our 1 June update pending the announcement from the State Government. We were obviously hoping for more comprehensive news.
Since the announcement at midday today I have been doing everything I can to ensure the message gets through that staying silent on a return to play date for senior sport is simply unacceptable.
I know you want information and answers, so do we. Please be assured that Netball NSW is absolutely focused on getting an outcome which provides certainty for senior players and competitions as quickly as possible.
The State Government also indicated today that the return to sport would be subject to specific guidelines. We are well advanced in preparing a suite of documents which Clubs and Associations can use for their return to competition, but we will now need to confirm that these meet the State Government requirements before we make them available via our website.
This is what we do know:
- Training can take place in groups of 10, as per the guidelines we released two weeks ago.
- Training is NOT restricted to children. Players of all ages can train.
- Competitions for players aged 18 and under can commence on 1 July.
For now, we are going to continue to hold our next full update while we try to obtain certainty on the start date for senior sport. It is likely that we will release details on some of the junior competitions sooner rather than later, but at this time I respectfully ask that you continue to show the amazing patience that you have to date while we work towards an outcome.
Finally, if you are wondering what you could do to help, I strongly recommend that you make contact with your local state member of parliament. Tell them how much community sport means to the whole community, not just those 18 and under, and ask that we are given a return to play date immediately. There is absolutely no reason why a date for senior sport can’t be announced, even if it is a phased approach, a couple of weeks after the juniors.
Thanks again for your ongoing patience and support and stay tuned for updates as we have them.
