Tue, Aug 31, 2021 3:13 PM

Football authorities prepare for possible season re-boot

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Peter Jones

While there is no definitive picture as to how the conclusion of the Marlborough senior football season will look, some tentative dates have been put forward, dependent on COVID alert levels.

Andrea Smith-Scott, Marlborough Football general manager, contacted all senior team contacts, referees and club committees today with an update on the ever-changing situation.

“After the latest announcements of alert level movement, I just wanted to provide you with the tentative plan to finish the remaining two weeks of the senior season,” she said.

“As of today, we are awaiting the government to provide advice to Sport NZ regarding the guidelines for how sport must operate under alert Level 2 and alert Level 1.

“As a result of this latest outbreak, we have been advised that these will differ from those implemented previously in 2020, especially around the number of people allowed to gather at a single event.  These guidelines will be critical for all sporting bodies to assess the viability and practicality of running outdoor sport events such as games and training sessions.

“We were advised that further details will be released this week.

“So, these dates are tentative of course pending the alert level guideline changes for sport, but just dates we are hopeful to be working towards thinking we may be in level 2 … and then level 1 for senior awards evening.”

Andrea hopes the Knockout Cup semifinals can be played on Saturday September 18, under alert level 2, with the KO Cup finals taking place the following weekend, Saturday September 25.

It is also hoped that the Senior Awards evening can be staged on Saturday, October 9, perhaps in alert level 1.

If the country is locked into alert level three for four past those dates Andrea says Marlborough Football will be forced to cancel the remaining of the senior season and the Knockout Cup, “as we need to respect the start of other sporting codes for their spring/summer seasons and we move into other commitments on our own football calendar”.

Those commitments include several events planned for October.

From October 3-7 the Tasman Club Rep Tournament will be staged at A&P Park, involving four age groups. It will be followed by the South Island Masters Games from 15-17 October. As this involves 40 teams and vast numbers of players and supporters, it can only be staged in level one.

The popular Matt Neal Memorial Tournament is planned for October 30-31 with summer football starting in mid-November.

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