THE first bombshell landed on Limestone Coast netball this week, with the Mid South East Netball Association announcing the cancellation of its 2020 season due to the ongoing COVID-19 threat.
A letter was released to the public Wednesday night and added to the growing number of netball associations across the state which had already pulled the pin.
The call was a joint decision made by the association as a whole, with representatives from each club voting to determine the fate of the 2020 competition.
According to MSENA president Sara Gray the vote weighed heavily to the favour of a cancelled season.
“I think clubs were just worried about infection control and the community and how it would actually happen,” she told The Border Watch yesterday.
“They wanted a call sooner rather than later.
“It was definitely heavy on the ‘no play’ side.”
With crowds unlikely to be allowed to attend games even if a green light is given on winter sport this year, Gray said it would take away the foundation of country netball.
“Community sport is reliant so much on families being able to attend,” she said.
“If you have to take one child and then leave, it does not really make for a great day out.
“Then there is always the risk something might occur which means we would have to stop (the season) again.”
Also included in the decision-making process was the added stress on coaches and volunteers to adhere to the strict protocols in place, while both community and individual safety were also considered.
“We have a lot of pressure on our volunteers anyway, let alone making them have a standard for hygiene,” Gray said.
“Coaches were going to be expected to do a lot to make sure things were the way they should be.”
Despite the cancellation of a premiership season, the association remains eager to hold a junior competition of some description, as youngsters were the most keen to return to the courts.
“We will look into a junior competition if we have enough clubs interested and restrictions are eased,” Gray said.
“We are not writing that off at this stage – we are keen to see the kids play.”
However, that would be in a shortened or round-robin format and hinges on the lift of restrictions which would allow such an event to take place.
With an extra year to prepare and without the stress of organising a season amidst COVID-19 restrictions, Gray looks forward to the 2021 competition.
“Next year we will be back bigger and better than ever and hopefully things work out going forward,” she said.
“We have had a lot of positive responses from players and other individuals – we have had messages saying we made the right call and things likes that, which is always nice to hear as an association.”
With the Mid South East Football League set to continue its quest to play a season of some form, Gray was clear on one thing, with the decision set in stone regardless of whether footballers play this year.
“We are not going to turn around and do a back-flip because football have said they are going to play,” she said.
