The Goulburn Mulwaree Council has revealed the local economy stands to lose up to $4.2 million from the recent cancellation of the 2020 NSW Indoor Hockey State Championships.
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Last week, Hockey NSW announced that all eight state titles were called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of these eight, six were scheduled to be held at Goulburn's Veolia Arena between October 9 and December 6.
The council's economic benefit projections revealed that it predicted between $470,000 to $940,800 injected into the local economy for each event, for a total sum of $4,292,400.
Councillor and deputy mayor, Peter Walker, said the losses were unfortunate but the decision was a necessary safety precaution.
"We're guided by state government health advice and people need to stay safe," Cr Walker said.
"[The state championships] will be greatly missed because Goulburn has found itself to be a great outlet for the indoor hockey. No-one [in past years] had any issues with the playing surface and the accommodation, it's ideally placed and it'll be missed."
Though the immediate losses are expected to be significant, there is a silver lining for Goulburn, as the council also confirmed it has extended its three-year hosting deal by one year to cover the losses.
2020 would have been the third and final year of said deal, with Goulburn set to host the Masters Men, Masters Women, Open Men, Open Women, Under 18s Girls, and Under 18s Boys state titles.
In a statement on its website, Hockey NSW said the decision to cancel the championships was made in order to protect both those associated in running the events and the host towns.
"Hockey NSW's main priority is the health and safety of our participants and at this point in time, we cannot confidently run the Championships in safe and enjoyable way," the organisation said.
"With the evolving situation across NSW, there are significant risks involved for not only our travelling teams and officials, but also their local communities and our host towns of Goulburn and Orange. As per NSW Government advice, the risk of COVID-19 transmission in an indoor environment is significantly higher than outdoors.
"If transmission was to occur at these Championships, there is strong possibility that the virus could be spread throughout Goulburn, Orange and across NSW as players return home. With 70% of our participants based regionally, this could have a devastating impact on small communities with limited healthcare resources."
While Hockey NSW expressed sympathy for those who were disappointed by the decision, it went on to assure indoor hockey fans that it would aim to "get as many local indoor competitions up and running later in the year.
"We will work with Associations and indoor venues to ensure they have resources available to safely run any planned competitions."
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