Covid-19 coronavirus: Bay of Plenty sport events cancelled, impacting on thousands of locals

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union community rugby manager Pat Rae. Photo / File

A number of sports events around the Bay of Plenty cannot go ahead this weekend due to social distancing rules, including junior rugby games involving more than 1000 children.

Auckland went into alert level 3 at midday on Wednesday and the rest of New Zealand was placed into alert level 2 meaning some fixtures have been postponed or cancelled.

This includes the Bay of Plenty Secondary School Basketball Baywide tournament due to be held at the Baypark Arena and the Queen Elizabeth Youth Centre (QEYC) yesterday. Last night, Prime Minister Jacinda Arden confirmed that the Auckland region would remain in alert level 3 and the rest of the country at level 2 for another 12 days until 11.59 pm on August 26 while inquiries into the recent cluster outbreak continued.

The total number of active cases has risen to 48 - 30 of which are linked to the community outbreak.

Ardern said the cabinet would review the Covid-19 alert settings on August 21.

Bay of Plenty Rugby Union's Community Rugby Manager Pat Rae said after consulting with New Zealand Rugby and competition committees, some cancellations were necessary.

Remaining at level 2 meant several junior rugby games were cancelled around the Bay of Plenty, including 44 teams with a total of about 440 players in Western Bay alone, he said.

Under 6 and 7-year-olds rugby at Bay Oval, the Central Bay Junior Rugby at Westbrook Fields and Eastern Bay Junior Rugby at Whakatane Rugby Park have all been cancelled.

Under 8-10 years old at Blake Park was continuing with strict level 2 restrictions in place including a maximum of one parent/guardian per playing child, he said.

Also under 11 years to under 13 years at clubs would continue under strict restrictions.

Rae said Baywide Secondary Schools rugby would also go ahead, no spectators would be allowed unless schools can manage crowds of up to 100 people, including players.

"Parents will have to drop off their children at the gate and return to their cars until the completion of the game," he said.

Rae said the 12 senior club rugby matches across the Bay of Plenty were set to go ahead.

This included the Toi Ohomai Baywide Women's Final (Rangiuru) at Ariki Park in Maungatapu and two Premier Men's semi-final fixtures, he said.

Rae said while it was disappointing some sports games had to be cancelled, it was the wider impacts of Covid-19 crisis which were at the forefront of his mind.

"During the lockdown, some of my friends lost their jobs along with lots of others, which is more concerning to me than having to postpone a rugby game. It's very important we ensure people's health and safety is protected and that's our top priority. "

Sport Bay of Plenty communications team leader Danene Jones said the cancelled Baywide Senior Schools Basketball tournament involved about 330 players.

"While there will obviously be an understandable level of disappointment and uncertainty about what is going to happen going forward, the key thing for us is safety first.

"Ensuring the health and safety of those attending sports events is our top priority."

Jones said there was also Bay of Plenty Secondary School Badminton semi-final fixture set to be held at the QEYC on August 18 and whether it can still go ahead was uncertain.

Tauranga Hockey Association general manager Clinton Butler. Photo / File

Tauranga Hockey Association general manager Clinton Butler said thanks to good planning in April and May, they were better prepared to respond to moving back into alert level 2.

"It's been a busy couple days, to be honest. But fortunately, apart from the postponement of our Year 3 and 4 players we've have able to hold hockey games every night this week.

This included secondary school hockey on Wednesday, club games on Thursday and intermediate hockey last night and also a competition on Saturday, he said.

Butler said by stretching out the times of games, having no spectators and splitting up the turf they were able to facilitate and manage the social distancing requirements.

"Moving to alert level 2 is disappointing, but thanks to all our pre-planning we were much better prepared to swing into action to make these necessary changes," he said.

In a Facebook Post, Rotorua Hockey said due to circumstances beyond its control, and the need to keep the community safe the grounds would remain closed until August 17.

"This means that all junior hockey, training and turf bookings are cancelled until that date, and this weekend's Bay of Plenty senior men's rugby league was also cancelled."

Rotorua Netball has also postponed Intermediate and Senior Netball today. "We understand this decision may be met with disappointment but the health and safety of all attendees is our priority," the website post said.

Harbourside Netball Centre has cancelled all its netball competitions from August 12 to August 16.

Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie said centres outside of Auckland can operate under alert level 2.

But our advice was to postpone games now to give centres time to ensure they had an up-to-date Covid-19 health and safety plan in place.

"We want to make sure that our centres can confidently meet those requirements."