PART FIVE MPS aid clubs’ recovery

TOWNSVILLE politicians have called on the State Government to address the disparity of needs between North Queensland and the southeast corner as community sport prepares to come back to the field.

Queensland’s Return to Play guidelines are set to ease further when stage three commences on July 10.

However there are concerns among clubs, volunteers and parents – as highlighted in The Townsville Bulletin’s Sporting Chance series – that the protocols in place do not suit the conditions and resources.

Already several teams in the Townsville and District Rugby League have opted to pull the pin on the 2020 season, while the Northern Rays have been forced to withdraw from the netball’s Sapphire Series.

For rugby league clubs such as Herbert River and Charters Towers, the strain on volunteers to adhere to the guidelines in facility cleaning and maintenance, as well as regulating the number of people at a venue, have been cited as reasons for their withdrawal.

They are issues Katter’s Australian Party leader Robbie Katter says he will take to parliament.

Katter said the disparity in resources between regional and metropolitan areas had always been a barrier, however the pandemic has highlighted these concerns. He said restrictions on sport in regional areas needed to be eased.

“It’s an intricate fabric that makes up these community sporting clubs and the further away you get from metropolitan areas the less likely you are to attract government assistance and the more reliant you become on local volunteers and sponsors,” Katter said.

“There’s a shallower depth of resources.

“The longer this drags out the higher risk there is these delicate networks will unravel and not come back together for some time, if at all.”

Queensland Minister for Sport Mick de Brenni said the Return to Play Advisory Group were continuing to liaise directly with industry and the Chief Health Office.

He said measures such as the Active Restart Infrastructure recovery Fund, set to open in July, would support clubs and enable them to be self-sufficient throughout the 2020 seasons.

“I understand this has been a tolling time for sporting clubs, and as a parent myself, I want nothing more than to be cheering my kids on from the sideline again,” de Brenni said.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Palaszczuk Government’s 10-year sport and recreation strategy Activate! Queensland was breaking down the barriers to participation for people living in our regions.

“I will be meeting with the Sport Minister’s Advisory Council in July to discuss the COVID recovery.”