With the return of all community sport on the cards for 1 July, we take a look around the grounds and find out when our clubs will be getting back to the fields and courts around Sydney.
Following the latest announcement, AFL NSW/ACT released their return to play plans for the Sydney AFL competition, which our UNSW-ES Bulldogs are a part of.
"To ensure players are well-prepared for competition, AFL NSW/ACT will commence a necessary contact-training and match preparation phase from 1 July. We are excited to work with our Leagues and Clubs to begin a dynamic 2020 Community Football and NAB AFL Auskick Season, with the first bounce of official competition play for all ages planned for the weekend of 17 – 19 July 2020."
The Bulldogs are preparing to defend their premierships in the Men's Premier Division and Men's Division Two, with the Women's Premier Division team hoping to bounce back from a 2019 that was below their best. We eagerly await their return to the field and get ready to cheer them on.
While currently in its off-season for the majority of competitions, Cricket NSW has begun to prepare for the upcoming season by releasing its Return to Cricket Guidelines. They have also collaborated with other NSW sporting organisations that share facilities including NSW Rugby League, Football NSW, NSW Rugby Union and AFL NSW/ACT to agree on end dates and start dates for winter and summer sport.
"The sports have taken a united approach in response to the impact of COVID-19 restrictions delaying the start of the 2020 Winter sport competitions. The Agreement seeks a simplified and united consensus for NSW winter sport community competitions to conclude no later than 11 October 2020, including finals, and community cricket competitions to conclude no later than 5 April 2021, including finals."
The UNSW Cricket Club (men's) and Universities Women's Cricket Club will be heading back into their Premier Cricket competitions from October.
The Gridiron NSW competitions are currently under revision, but with competitions due to start in late August, there is plenty of hope their 2020 season will be able to run as normal, pending field availability from delayed start dates for winter sports.
The UNSW Hockey Club teams play in a number of competitions. The Sydney Women's Hockey League is currently planning to commence a shortened season to start 19 July 2020, with finals to be played in the last weekend of September. Sydney East Hockey Association will commence their competition on 18 July with a shortened season to take place, but no further details about fixtures released as yet. The Sydney Men's Hockey Association have not yet released their start dates, but their most recent update indicates a start date of 18 July is likely.
The UNSW Netball Club plays in the Randwick Netball Association competition, who have not yet released start dates for their competition. However Netball NSW have recommended that associations commence their competitions on 18 July to allow for full training to commence from 1 July before the season begins. Teams are currently able to train in groups of less than 10 (this increases to 20 as of Saturday 13 June) and must follow strict social distancing guidelines.
NSW Suburban Rugby are still working on finalising competition start dates and we will continue to update you as the situation progresses. Clubs have been allowed to recommence non-contact, socially distanced training in small groups in preparation for a start date in the coming months.
The UNSW Football Club competes in a number of competitions and start dates are slowly being announced as teams have commenced their small group training. The Eastern Suburbs Football Association has announced its senior competitions will start from 3 July, with grand final dates set for the weekend of 10 July. The UNSW men's and women's top teams compete in the Football NSW Premier League competitions and start dates for these have not yet been released, but these dates will be announced in the near future.
The UNSW-South Sydney Rabbitohs Touch Club are eagerly preparing for their return, with dates for the upcoming social comp to be released over the next few weeks. With the majority of representative touch taking place over summer, the club will be looking forward to competing in the State Cup and Vawdon Cup when the season rolls around.
With the main season still a number of months away, Water Polo Australia has not announced start dates, but the decreased restrictions will mean more meaningful training can take place for our teams and athletes. Nathan Power, who has recently finished his studies at UNSW, is looking to head to Barcelona in the next few months after signing with CN Barcelona for the upcoming season.