WHEN any decision is made, you have to make it with the best interest of the majority of people in mind.
I know we are all frustrated by the new restrictions imposed by our state leaders – particularly those of us living in Sunraysia who cross between New South Wales and Victoria regularly.
Under the new guidelines that came into place on Tuesday, people will be prohibited from crossing between Victoria and NSW to play sport.
For many community sporting organisations, it means some teams will be forced to withdraw from their competitions because of the cross-border restrictions.
Last Saturday I made the trip over the bridge to Gol Gol to watch Alcheringa play Red Cliffs in the opening round of the Sunraysia District Tennis Association (SDTA), but that won’t be possible this weekend with those tougher restrictions having coming into effect.
As a Victorian, and with no legitimate reason to cross the border, I would be required to self isolate for 14 days. The same restrictions relate to people living in NSW who travel into Victoria and back into their home state, unless they meet the criteria set out under the new guidelines.
These restrictions have forced Alcheringa to withdraw four of their five teams from the SDTA, leaving them with just their Premier League side, which is made up of players living in Victoria.
The Sunraysia Football Netball League (SFNL) junior competition was also cancelled this week when executives decided the new rules were too prohibitive.
It was a tough call, but the right one.
As soon as people were banned from crossing the border to play sport there was no option but to call the season off.
COVID-19 is nothing any of us have experienced in our lifetime and, as frustrating as it is, we all just have to conform and take the advice of health professionals and our government, believing the decisions they make are in best interest of all us.
There is certainly a strong argument for people living in border towns, like we do, to have less restrictive rules in place, but where do you draw the line.
I know sport plays an important part in our daily lives and not having it has been difficult for everyone, but our health is way more important.
If it means we miss a season to protect our communities health and wellbeing, then that’s a sacrifice we all have to make.
I think it’s time a blanket decision was made to cancel sport at all levels.
Continuing to try and find a way forward it just too difficult in this ever-changing environment and the expectations we are placing on our volunteers is unrealistic.
Community sport doesn’t operate without these great people and while I know they have been happy to take on the extra workload, its unfair to expect them to.
Just make the call on all winter sport and hopefully by the time summer arrives, competitions can start uninhibited and on schedule.
