Back in action on June 27

NETBALL will start in Dunedin late next month and go through until the end of September.

Some fees have been waived, and the emphasis is getting on court and playing.

Dunedin Netball operations manager LeeAnne Anderson said the first games are set to be played on June 27. There would be preseason games on that date and again on July 4.

Sevengame, roundrobin premier and senior competitions will start on July 11 and finish with finals on September 20.

Secondary, intermediate and primary school competitions will all start during the first week of term three, starting on July 20 and going through to the final full week of September.

Dunedin Netball was due to start preseason games on March 10 before Netball New Zealand confirmed the postponement of all community netball on the same day.

“It has been a challenging time for everyone in our community and winter sport has been significantly impacted, but it is great to be able to finally have some netball plans in place with the help of the Edgar Centre making courts available for us to play into September,” Anderson said.

She said rules around team numbers and cleaning would depend on what the restrictions were when the sport started.

There was an expectation team numbers would not be as high, as players had other commitments.

Netball New Zealand had waived its annual fee for players, while Netball South had cut its fee in half, so that was a boost for players.

“We know players and coaches are keen to get on court and it’s been a long time for many just waiting. It has been important for us to be able to provide an opportunity for meaningful competitions in all grades and we are pleased to have been able to achieve that in these current circumstances.”

Traditionally club netball finishes in August, but courts had been made available at the Edgar Centre through until the end of the competitions.