REGIONAL sport continues to be ignored by the Victorian Government.
This week’s announcements again left us all confused and frustrated.
Local sporting clubs throughout regional Victoria are being held back by case numbers in metropolitan Melbourne under the Victorian Government’s COVID-19 roadmap to reopening.
The new plan means all stages are separated into regional and metropolitan milestones, except for the final stage when regional Victoria is dependant on new cases being at zero for at least 14 days in Melbourne.
Everyone appreciates the complex challenges associated with a global pandemic, but there needs to be some common sense applied.
Under the current plan, anyone above the age of 18 will not be able to participate in contact community sport, unless Melbourne has reached the final stage, which is likely to be late November.
This means no AFL, no netball, no basketball – basically any sport that involves physical contact will be off limits for adults living in regional Victoria.
We are all hearing loud and clear that due to limited social connection, clubs are deeply concerned about the psychological welfare of their members and players.
There is a reason why regional Victoria’s COVID-19 cases are so low – we have followed the rules.
Normally when you do the right thing you are rewarded, but not in this case.
It’s fine for Premier Daniel Andrews to stand up in front of the media and hale the great effort regional Victorians have done.
But the bottom line is regional Victorians and sport has being let down by the latest round of announcements.
There is no reason at all why restrictions should continue to apply to regional sport.
We have done the hard yards, sacrificed plenty, because that’s what we do in the country.
We are masters of handling adversity, but now it’s time we received some recognition for all the sacrifices we have made.
I’m sick of hearing “we need to stay the course”. How much more do we need to do?
We’ve stayed the course, accepted the restrictions imposed on us and now it’s time to cut us a bit of slack.
In Sunraysia, we haven’t had a recorded case of coronavirus for months, so how can Mr Andrews tell us we aren’t allowed to play contact sport until metropolitan Melbourne reaches zero cases for at least 14 days straight?
What happens if that doesn’t happen until next year? Does that mean that no senior basketball will be allowed in regional Victoria until then?
It just seems sheer ignorance to be continuing to lump regional Victoria in with what is happening in Melbourne.
And for those towns that share the border with another state – like Mildura, we are even worse off until border restrictions are lifted.
Under the current regulations, two of our Sunraysia Cricket Association teams, Coomealla Wentworth and Workers Gol Gol, will not be permitted to play until NSW lifts restrictions allowing people in border towns to cross freely to play sport.
I know every easing of the restrictions is a step forward, but I can’t help but think regional Victoria is getting the rough end of the stick – again.
