THE Sunraysia Football Netball League (SFNL) board will meet next Tuesday to discuss the fate of the 2020 season.
It’s an unenviable task and, whatever they decide, there are sure to be people out there who will disagree with the outcome.
It’s one of those situations where you wish you had a crystal ball, but unfortunately the men and women who preside over our local footy and netball competitions don’t.
But maybe South Australia’s decision this week to allow community football and netball to play with crowds of up to 500 might persuade the SFNL board to delay their decision again, or at least convince them to set a date when the season might go ahead.
To me that seems like the sensible thing to do.
They have waited this long, so what’s another few weeks.
If the Victorian Government hasn’t relaxed coronavirus restrictions by then, abandon the season.
I know a lot of other leagues around the state have pulled the plug on their competitions, but let’s not go too early.
While there is still a chance of getting a nine-round season in and finals we should cling to that hope.
The next round of official Victorian Government announcements about community sport are due later this month, so why not wait until then?
The SFNL has already said if it could get the season started in early July it could play.
Announce what that date will be and if crowd restrictions still remain by then make the call.
But if the Victorian Government follows South Australia and allows up to 500 people to attend games then move junior football and netball back to a Sunday and play the seniors on Saturday.
It’s a simple solution and means no one misses out on a game.
At the moment we seem very fixed on playing all competitions on the one day.
Everyone needs to adapt and compromise in this situation if matches are going to go ahead.
I know I am contradicting what I said in one of my earlier columns, when I called for the season to be cancelled, but a lot has changed since then and I’m the first to admit I called it too early.
Like a lot of other people, I couldn’t see an end date to what was happening with the coronavirus and thought we should just draw a line in the sand.
But since then training has resumed with up to 40 players allowed in two groups of 20 at any one time on the ground.
The AFL and NRL have kicked off their seasons, pubs and restaurants have re-opened and schools are back to normal – things are certainly looking up.
Community sport is too important to our social fabric, particularly in Sunraysia, to not to do everything possible to get it going again.
But if that isn’t possible, then the officials who are forced to make the ultimate call should not be criticised for their decision.
They are volunteers who have the best interests of everyone in mind and while we may not all agree with what they decide, we have to accept it.
