Great weekend
LAST weekend was very special.
Our children in Geelong were able to play junior sport and we, as their parents, were able to watch.
On Friday night AWA basketball stadium came alive for the first time in months. It was evident from the moment that we drove through the gates that it would be a different experience. The Geelong United uniforms looked the same.
The children in those uniforms were buzzing with excitement. It had been a long time between games.
The adults were standing 1.5m apart and scanning a barcode on the wall to sign in. Spectators were limited to one parent per child and it was clear in talking with many of the parents who were there, that that had been a difficult discussion at home between parents as to whom was going to attend.
When the buzzer sounded and the ball was bouncing up and down the court, you could forget momentarily that life was utterly changed.
The game was wonderful. It was a match designed to allow teammates and ring-ins to have a game in circumstances where the competition is not able to proceed as it involves Melbourne teams. There were magic moments, swishes and laughter. It felt like everyone knew how lucky they were to be playing a game of basketball.
On Saturday I watched an under-17 girls netball game in the newly-fashioned AFL Barwon competition. It, too, was magic.
Our game was in Torquay, against Torquay. It was great for a GFNL team to play against a BFNL team. Again, there were strict rules where only one parent per child could attend and there were designated standing points for the spectators. Hand sanitising was a must.
For the girls on the court, they had the privilege of playing a competitive game of netball and they loved every minute. There were great contests, passes that were superbly accurate, intercepts that felt like they were taken in slow motion and clapping after every goal.
After the game and while the coach was addressing the team, the parents standing apart all commented on how relieved they were that the girls were actually able to play the game. We had all been so nervous that COVID-19 would rob them of that opportunity. There was relief and joy.
On Sunday we watched an under-13 footy game. Sanitising for the boys was the norm. No parents were allowed on the ground in any circumstances and families were encouraged to stay and watch from their cars. If you were standing on the fence you were 1.5m apart. Everyone adhered to the rules. No exceptions.
The boys had a great time. There was tackling accompanied by the obligatory holding of your breath as your child hits the ground, and the joyous exhale as he gets up and runs off. There were goals kicked and muddy knees and a team song. There was chatter on the fence line as dads who had played each other in their own youth stood watching their sons play each other. There was pride and history and community spirit.
Last weekend was only possible because of the hours and hours of work that community-minded people, who are largely volunteers, put in to make it happen. Because Geelong is, for now at least, outside of the lockdown zone, and these wonderful people have worked the unprecedented problem which COVID-19 has presented from all angles with all contingencies planned, our children were able to play. There have been endless committee meetings, AFL Barwon meetings, Zoom meetings between clubs and within clubs. There have been calls for volunteers to monitor hand sanitiser usage and wash and dry balls. There have been logistics meetings about parking and spacing of games and an endless need to communicate to parents and players about how this was going to work and what they needed from us and our children to give them the best chance of playing. To all of those volunteers and sporting community leaders, thank you. Thank you for all of your hard work over the last several months to make last weekend, and every additional weekend that they get to play, a reality.
If any of us needed an incentive to do what we know we must do, to keep us all safe, being able to have the privilege of watching our children play sport weekend after weekend is surely more than enough.
Rachel Schutze is a Principal Lawyer at Gordon Legal, wife and mother of three. [Ed’s note: Ms Schutze is married to Corio MP Richard Marles.]