Start of netball season delayed

POSTPONED: Rising Covid-19 case numbers in Tairawhiti have prompted the Gisborne Netball Centre board to postpone the start of this year's netball competition across all grades. At this stage, senior netball could start on April 30 and school grades, early May. High School Old Girls centre Ashleigh Te Patu is pictured sending the ball to goal attack Lauren Bennett, who is under pressure from Whangara Old Girls defender Tania Adamson. HSOG are the reigning premier champions, having beaten Whangara 41-36 in the 2021 final. Picture by Paul Rickard

The Gisborne Netball Centre board has decided to postpone the start date for the 2022 season for all areas of competition because of the spread of Covid-19 in the community.

The board met on Monday night and centre manager Allisa Hall said they were “wary” of the impact Covid cases were having on many clubs and schools trying to finalise trials/musters and training to be able to start the Pak'nSave netball season in two weeks.

“We will work on the revised calendar to go out as soon as possible,” she said.

“That will include new registration closing dates, but at this stage we are tentatively looking at seniors starting on April 30, and all secondary, intermediate and primary netball beginning the first week of Term 2 in May.

“We may possibly have to extend our finals date, but will share all updated info as soon as we can,” Hall said.

“For those who have already registered their team, those registrations will remain valid, but please let us know should any of your information change between now and the new closing date.

“This decision was not made lightly, and many factors were taken into consideration.

“We know many teams have players with Covid or isolating, and this will affect the pre-season period, which is vital to injury prevention as part of the NetballSmart Prepare to Play and Balance is Better philosophies,” she said.

“We are also aware of the amendment in the school space currently happening to allow all students to participate without use of vaccine passes as recommended by the Ministry of Education.

“Any amendment finalised after our registration closing date may impact some teams or players.

“We will have more clarity on this area, also, before our new, revised start date of May 7 for intermediate and secondary grades,” Hall said.

“This extra few weeks will allow our schools to conduct further trials with players currently missing out due to isolation and schooling online.

“For our clubs, it's a chance to have a few extra weeks of pre-season training to help prepare.”

The board also decided to postpone the Sutherland Auto Kathleen Henderson Tournament until April.

“We will convey the new date shortly.

“If coaches/clubs have any queries about all of this, please feel free to contact me.”