Tauranga Sports were to play Whakarewarewa in the Baywide Premier men's final on the weekend. Photo / Supplied
Tauranga Sports were to play Whakarewarewa in the Baywide Premier men's final on the weekend. Photo / Supplied
"Only worry about what you can control."
It's something athletes are told all the time but in the current nationwide lockdown it is a mantra that is being well and truly tested.
Tauranga Sports were due to take on Whakarewarewa Rugby Club in the Baywide Premier rugby final at theweekend but lockdown means they have to bide their time.
It is one of four finals due to be played across the Bay when restrictions allow.
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union community rugby manager Pat Rae said although the lockdown had disrupted the season, no one involved was panicking and all were aware of the significant threat presented by Covid-19.
"I don't think there needs to be a mad panic in terms of cancelling it - we do have a bit of time on our side," he said.
"We could potentially wait until November if we need to. I've been in touch with all the presidents or chairman of the teams involved in our finals. It's not a big deal and I'll probably suggest we don't try to hold the finals in level 2, we should wait until level 1."
The extra time between level 2 and 1 could be valuable as the teams involved will need time to train and get back up to speed.
"If we use last year as the yardstick, we were in lockdown for six weeks and they required a three-week return-to-play protocol. So, for every two weeks we're in lockdown there will be an extra week's training to return to play.
"It's just about getting that cardio-vascular fitness back up and getting used to contact which helps prevent injuries."
While being back in lockdown was not ideal, Rae said the experiences of last year's lockdown and return to normal life meant the rugby union was more prepared this time around.
"I'm a lot less stressed about it all than I was last time because we were stepping into the unknown," he said.
"At least here, we already know what to expect. There's not much change with the protocols even with the different variant [of Covid-19]."
Tauranga Sports coach John Dodds said the postponement was disruptive but the final would come down to whichever team adapted best.
"We were just about to start training last Tuesday night when the lockdown announcement came through," he said.
"We still trained as if we would play but obviously turned out that there was no way we could. It's massively frustrating, it's been a long season already and it takes a bit of momentum away, we were on a pretty good roll.
"We're staying positive and doing what we can from home in terms of keeping the bodies ticking over and staying connected as much as we can. We'll be ready."
Dodds said the team knew they had to play their part to keep Covid-19 at Bay, just like everyone else.
"Obviously, we'll do everything we can to keep Covid at Bay and we'll work with Whaka in terms of where they want to host the final. We're just keen to get it played when the time is right."
The Kurangaituku netball tournament in 2019. Photo / File
Meanwhile, in Rotorua, the 87th Kurangaituku Netball Tournament, hosted by Netball Rotorua, was set to begin this Friday.
The three-weekend long tournament attracts thousands of netballers to Rotorua every year, and had 400 teams entered for the 2021 edition, but has been postponed.
The senior weekends, due to be played on August 27-28 and September 3-4 will now be played on October 29-30 and November 5-6, if restrictions allow.
The secondary school tournament has been cancelled.
All three weekends of the tournament were cancelled in 2020 due to Covid-19.
