THERE has been plenty of speculation on the fate of the three Limestone Coast football leagues and whether they will pull the pin on the 2020 season due to COVID-19.
The Kowree Naracoorte Tatiara Football League has not escaped such rumours, with questions rising to whether teams will hit the park this year.
However, league president Peter McLellan told The Border Watch yesterday a decision has not been made on the season at this stage.
“We are still waiting for the next update,” he said.
While it appears the waiting game is set to continue for now, a verdict on the 2020 competition draws near, with an outcome expected in the coming weeks.
“We have another meeting with Adelaide on Tuesday the 9th (of June) – a Zoom meeting with all the leagues and SANFL,” McLellan said.
That will follow the state government’s announcement on June 5, which is expected to reveal what restrictions will remain in place for community sport.
“On the Friday they are doing an announcement before the long weekend and SANFL will digest what it means and give us the breakdown,” McLellan said.
“We still have time, but we just need to know sooner than later.”
However, time is slowly running out, along with the patience of clubs, players and all involved in the football fraternity.
“We have some clubs keen to go and some clubs not keen,” McLellan said.
“A lot of clubs are close to calling it, but we are not calling it yet.”
McLellan said those concerns, among others, will be addressed at the league meeting on June 10, following the update from SANFL.
“No one has been able to get together so we are going to have a meeting on June 10 and discuss all options,” he said.
“We will have all the delegates from the clubs there and Michael Mourbey will give a presentation.”
In the worst-case scenario of the season not going ahead, McLellan said the league is determined to still run a junior competition of some format.
“We are keen to get some sort of junior thing under way definitely,” he said.
“That might be a six-week thing in late August/September, with some double headers or something like that – we will make that happen.
“By then I’m hoping we will be back to a bit more normality, with borders opened.”
However, as has been the case for the last few months, it is just a matter of playing the waiting game and hoping restrictions are eased to the point of being able to play.
