According to the announcement, community sport will be allowed to return once the state hits its 80 per cent double-dose vaccination target, which is currently predicted to be November 5, with harsh limits set to be placed on spectator attendance.
SDCA president Ben Trezise gave an update on where things currently stand.
“As per the easing of state government restrictions (recently), clubs (had) been able to get back to training in groups of 10 — abiding by the rules of social distancing, QR coding, wearing masks when not participating and all those types of things,” Trezise said.
“We planned for the season to start on the 19th of October and having been waiting for the state government’s announcements we are hoping to kick off when we hit that 80 per cent double-dose mark.”
When it comes to the fixture, he said the league would move to cancel games affected by the restrictions rather than extend the season out further.
“All we would do is — say we miss two weeks — we would cancel a couple of games or remove a two-dayer; our season finishes mid-March and then we have a reserve day which is on the last weekend of March,” he said.
“We couldn’t push it back any further because handover for all football clubs is generally the first of April so we will be playing our grand finals on their normal days regardless of what happens with the scheduling of the start of the season.”
One challenge many regional sporting leagues have faced when it comes to relaunching is around their Melbourne-based players, with competitions such as the SDCA slated to get under way before the metropolitan area is freed from lockdown.
Trezise explained how the league would be handling this scenario.
“The simple answer is those players will not be able to play until Melbourne restrictions allow them to do so,” he said.
“I am presuming it is the same as last year when it comes to Melbourne players being unable to travel, but we can’t stop the season for three players or one player from each team being from Melbourne.
“Our aim is to get as much cricket in as possible with last year being a shortened season, so we will be out on the park as soon as we are able to do so.”
With Victorians having to endure so much over the past 18 months as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said the league would be thrilled to bring cricketers back onto the field when it was safe to do so.
“We are so excited to bring cricket back but you have to put it into perspective that we were very lucky to get a season away last year when football didn’t and again this year we have seen the football season heavily interrupted,” he said.
“We won’t be counting our chickens before they hatch though, that’s for sure.”
The SDCA is currently looking for a secretary, junior development officer and more volunteers for season 2021-22. If you are interested, contact the league at secretary.sdca@gmail.com
Mitchell Shire being currently in lockdown adds another spanner into the works for the SDCA, but it is hoped the local government area will be released in the coming days.
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