Friday-night games still out
NETBALL won’t return to Friday nights when community sport returns after the coronavirus shutdown.
Cairns Netball already had flagged a shift to its winter schedule this off season after player feedback showed a majority of participants wanted their Fridays free of sport.
It was easy to reschedule, according to operations manager Tanya Dearns, who said better utilisation of courts at the Martyn St facility would allow for the whole schedule to be condensed to two days.
In response to the coronavirus pause on community sport in 2020, many codes have considered rescheduling competitive games to allow for a full season.
Cairns Netball among them.
Dearns said that while there would be some changes to start times, they would still be able won’t be to make the schedule work across two days. She said it could also depend on what gathering restrictions are in place, with longer breaks between fixtures a possibility.
“We’d look to extending the times (on Tuesdays and Wednesdays),” she said. “The way we had the structure of the competition we could have moved things earlier. Dearns said they’d also need to consider the other sports their members they participate in.
Matildas captain Sam Kerr says the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic means the Australian national team won’t receive a break from major tournaments until 2025. Australia’s top female footballers were due to have a break in 2021, with their normal tournament cycle – which includes the Asian Cup, World Cup and Olympics, along with qualifying matches and friendlies – originally finishing after Tokyo 2020. But with the Olympics pushed back to next year, the Matildas face a constant cycle of major competitions and qualifying tournaments that will conclude only after Paris 2024. Meanwhile, A-League hierarchy want the season to resume and also finish in the month of August.
Clarke to head RA
Former Brumbies and Melbourne Rebels chief executive Rob Clarke has been appointed as interim CEO of Rugby Australia. Clarke returns to Rugby Australia following two previous stints as chief operating officer, working under former chief executives Gary Flowers and Bill Pulver.