Palmerston Game Fishing Club’s annual Barra Nationals tournament cancelled due to coronavirus

The Palmerston Game Fishing Club’s annual flagship Barra Nationals tournament has been postponed due to coronavirus and will now likely not return until next year.

The 2020 Palmerston Game Fishing Club has been postponed until 2021. Picture: Supplied

THE Palmerston Game Fishing Club’s annual flagship Barra Nationals tournament has been postponed due to coronavirus and will now likely not return until next year.

In a post to the event’s Facebook page over the weekend, organisers said it was “with great sadness we announce the postponement of this year’s beloved Barra Nationals”.

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“The safety of competitors, the ongoing viability of the tournament and the likelihood of disruption means we have to put off the event until further notice,” the post reads.

“The risk to competitors and the tournament is just too great.”

Despite the announcement being described as a “postponement”, the club officials said the Nationals would “now likely be slotted in for a return in 2021” with teams provided a full refund on entry fees.

“This decision was not taken lightly and made at this time to try to give everyone as much time as possible to adjust and also provide teams a full refund on entry fees paid,” the post reads.

“Our thoughts are with those teams who had made significant arrangements to be able to attend this year’s tournament and special thoughts also go out for our enduring hosts Wally and Kerri at the Banyan Farm.

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“These wonderful people have been hit hard by this development and any help and support we’re able to rally for them in the coming months would be fantastic.”

The post said “almost every team and many of the sponsors” had been informed of the event’s cancellation and thanked them for their “overwhelming support for our difficult decision”.

“Moving forward — all current teams will be eligible for entry into next year’s Barra Nationals,” it reads.

“From the discussions so far there is already a lot of enthusiasm for 2021 and after a year off competitors will likely be jumping out of their skin.

“COVID-19 you mongrel!”