A glimmer of hope remains for the Goulburn Geckos men's and women's sides in their respective Capital League competitions, after Hockey ACT released a statement on Friday confirming a deadline of October 10 by which the season must be completed.
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The two Goulburn teams currently sit fourth (men) and third (women) on their divisional ladders, meaning if the season does go ahead, there is a strong possibility that both will qualify for finals.
There are, however, several conditions that must be met before Hockey ACT will resume competition.
The foremost among those is that the Canberra lockdown will end as scheduled on September 2. If it is extended, the teams will be given at least one full week of training, but if training is unable to commence before September 13, the regular season will be ended.
Similarly, if training cannot begin before September 27, the season will be called off in its entirety.
In this case, the teams at the top of their respective ladders will be named premiers. If all teams have played the same number of games, this will be decided on points. If they have not, it will be decided by percentages.
Additionally, the competition will only go forward if NSW residents in the areas within the ACT bubble are able to play.
Hockey ACT CEO, Rob Sheekey, said in the statement that the conditions for a return to play were decided in consultation with all of the member clubs.
"Hockey ACT has received survey feedback from all clubs to establish criteria for a return to play if and when the health advice improves to allow community sport to recommence," Sheekey said.
"It appears it will be a difficult road to be able to complete the season however we have established some timelines and criteria that we will be working towards so that our membership understands how Hockey ACT are planning for the remainder of the season."
The criteria listed above were decided with five key priorities in mind, as explained by Hockey ACT:
- ACT and NSW Health advice;
- The health and wellbeing of the hockey community and the broader ACT and NSW community;
- Player welfare at the forefront of decision making;
- Summer sports seasons coming online;
- We want to avoid Hockey fatigue by having firm decision timelines in place and avoid the season dragging out.
Sheekey acknowledged that the conditions outlined by Hockey ACT would not please everybody, but said that the key priority for the organisation is protecting the health of its players and the hockey community.
"We understand that not all may agree with the above decisions however HACT believe it is important to inform our members of the processes we will be using in our decision making," he said.
"HACT would dearly love to be able to conclude the season in some way but remain understanding that in this environment the health of the broader community must come first and there is a real possibility that this may not be possible in 2021."
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