AFL North West works toward a mid-July start date

Photos courtesy Ben Jaffrey and Billy Jupp, Northern Daily Leader.

 

The AFL North West will meet with club presidents in the coming days as the league pushes toward a July 18 kick-off.

The announcement that adult community sport could return from July 1 was welcomed by AFL North West and AFL NSW/ACT’s response to the announcement was a reassuring and exciting one.

AFL NSW/ACT acting CEO Tiffany Robertson outlined the body’s plans in a letter to the AFL community.

“To ensure players are well-prepared for competition, AFL NSW/ACT will commence a necessary contact-training and match preparation phase from 1 July,” she said.

“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.”

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While AFL North West will strive to get as many competitions on the park as possible, further discussions will be had with clubs before anything is set in stone.

A meeting has been slated for Monday, June 15 where clubs can provide further feedback on where they sit and the potential of a season in 2020.

FULL LETTER FROM TIFFANY ROBERTSON

Dear AFL Community Clubs and local stakeholders,

AFL NSW/ACT welcomes the Acting Minister for Sports announcement today that from 1 July 2020 adult community sport competitions can restart at the same time as 18 years and under.

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.

As we work through a staged approach towards contact-training and competition, we will continue to engage with Leagues, Clubs, participants, coaches, umpires and all volunteers to ensure we return to competition play in an effective and safe manner in adherence with the NSW Public Heath Order, Community Sport COVID-19 Safety Plan and AFL Return to Play Framework (RTP Framework).

It should be noted that, until advised otherwise, all sports are still subject to the current NSW Public Health Orders until 1 July 2020 and should be training under the AFL Return to Small Group Training Protocols.

AFL NSW/ACT will publish Return to Contact Training and Competition Play Protocols for NAB AFL Auskick, junior and senior community football in-line with Government Guidelines and the RTP Framework to inform and educate our network well in advance of official competition play.

We encourage our Senior Clubs to collaborate with local councils across NSW to confirm venue availability and revised access conditions now that we have certainty around a season start date for our competitions. AFL NSW/ACT is collaborating with other major sporting codes to agree on overarching season-length principles and dates to ensure a smooth handover with limited impacts to future seasons. A copy of the media release and agreement can be found here.

Today’s announcement provides much-needed certainty and confidence for senior community football competitions. However, we do acknowledge that additional guidance is needed as it relates to spectators and use of canteens. We plan on including guidance for canteen use and spectators in our Return to Competition Play Protocols.

AFL NSW/ACT encourages our network to visit www.aflnswact.com.au/return-to-play for a comprehensive list of resources including templates, FAQ’s, education resources and regular updates.

On behalf of AFL NSW/ACT, we would like to thank all participants and volunteers for your patience, support and understanding as we work towards a safe return for community football.

We could not have done this without the outstanding support of the entire AFL family and share your excitement for a return to footy across all ages in July.

Tiffany Robertson
Acting Chief Executive Officer – AFL NSW/ACT