STARK news arrived this week about football and netball leagues in South Australia pulling up stumps for the season due to the ongoing COVID-19 restrictions in place.
The Great Flinders Football League and Netball Association announced it would not run the 2020 season, while the Northern Areas Netball Association has made the same decision.
It puts things in perspective at the moment regarding the three football and netball competitions in the Limestone Coast.
The Western Border, Mid South East and Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara seasons are all still up in the air, with a bit extra affecting those than some other South Australian competitions.
While much has been said about the viability of leagues this season with no crowds currently allowed even if football was to start now, here in the South East the border restrictions are also weighing heavily on the competitions.
Victorian teams are not allowed to train at this stage, leaving the likes of Casterton Sandford out in the cold, but even when they can start – Monday, May 25 – they will still not be able to travel across the border into South Australia.
The same scenario affects the KNTFL, while the MSEFL has several players/coaches who live across the border and cannot participate at this stage.
SANFL general manager Matt Duldig said it was unfortunate the aforementioned leagues had made the decision to cancel the season and said the state body had not given any direction about suspension of play.
“We are encouraging them to wait until June 8 to make a decision,” he said.
“We might get a few more easing of restrictions from the state government by then.”
Duldig said the decisions had been made with finances the major factor.
“With no crowds it will be difficult to generate revenues to cover costs,” he said.
“That is a key consideration, but we are working closely with the state government to see if we can get some consideration about easing restrictions to help get footy back.”
He said there was little which could be done regarding cross-border restrictions at this stage, which is in the hands of the state government.
“The Victorian clubs can go back to training on Monday, so from a training perspective they are only a week behind,” Duldig said.
“The border openings will be a state government decision and it doesn’t seem likely for some time.
“We are all guessing at the moment unfortunately.”
Duldig said he simply wanted clubs and leagues to “hang out” for as long as they could before making a final decision.
“There is not much we can do about it,” he said.
“This has moved pretty quickly in recent times so you just never know.”
Duldig urged people to be patient, with the health of players, officials and fans across the state the most important aspect of the whole scenario.
He said at this stage training had returned with some positive feedback and he hoped in the coming weeks more positive updates could be provided.
“I think a few clubs have pushed out to next week to start (training), to give themselves a bit more time, which is understandable because there are a lot of protocols to follow,” Duldig said.
“But so far, so good.
“Everyone is just happy to be back out on the field.”
