Editorial: Reclaiming the games

Never have we been more reminded of our love of sport than during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The last thing we want is for the umpire to blow the whistle again and call off the games.

SPORT is an important part of the Australian way of life.

Never have we been more reminded of our love of sport than during the current COVID-19 pandemic. The absence of organised games has left many of us feeling a little sad and a bit lost.

Of course, it has been a necessary and, like many aspects of our lives, sensible sacrifice in the circumstances. But there is now a glimmer of light at the end of this long, dark tunnel.

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Sport plays a crucial role in building and maintaining communities — especially in regional and rural areas where many isolated families come together on weekends and during the week for training and games.

In many cases, the local footy and netball clubs have helped struggling towns get through the worst droughts, floods and bushfire disasters — a welcome refuge to take minds off the worries of the world.

Richmond's Jack Riewoldt and Tom Lynch celebrating after the 2019 AFL Grand Final at the MCG. Picture: ALEX COPPEL

Exercise is known to ward off mental illness, and social interactions in and around sporting clubs provide the vital links for people to care for one another.

That’s why it is exciting to see training has resumed ahead of a restart of some of the top leagues and team sports across the nation as restrictions are gradually lifted.

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Yesterday, the AFL announced the fixtures for the next four rounds of the 2020 season, starting with a blockbuster clash between Collingwood and Richmond on Thursday June 11.

The fixtures feature matches each week from Thursday through to Sunday as the AFL seeks to maximise the television audience with no fans allowed to attend games.

Of course, the atmosphere will be strange without fans packing the venues, but perhaps some of the innovations trialled overseas, with giant screens showing fans on a mass Zoom meeting, and even cardboard cutouts of fans in the stands, could be introduced to create some excitement.

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There is a chance that fans will slowly be able to attend games with 5000, 15,000 and perhaps as many as 30,000 allowed to watch the Grand Final with careful seat allocation, temperature testing on arrival and staggered entry and exit times.

Tasmanian State League 2019 Grand Final. Lauderdale V North Launceston. Picture: NIKKI DAVIS-JONES

It is not just the big leagues that are looking forward to a resumption in play.

Tasmanian State League footballers are back on the ground for training, as is grassroots soccer, hockey and many other sports.

The gradual progress into group sports needs to be carefully done.

The world is a different place, and we can’t become complacent about the dangers we still face. T

here is no vaccination or cure yet for coronavirus and we remain just as vulnerable as before.

Social distancing, washing hands and staying away if we are sick are vital if we are to maintain low numbers of COVID-19 cases. The crisis isn’t over and we need to stick to the rules.

The last thing we want is for the umpire to blow the whistle again and call off the games.