Mid-July start on the cards for Albany Netball Association

The Albany Netball Association is hopeful it can begin a 2020 season on July 18, but will wait until phase three of government restrictions comes into place before making a final decision.

With the ANA proposing its start date as mid-July, it has put together a set of draft fixtures outlining what a season would look like.

A possible season would consist of seven rounds plus finals.

The ANA is in negations with Mt Barker and Denmark Recreation Centre to discuss the possibility of some fixtures being played outside of Albany, if it helps the season get started and run safer.

ANA president Trish Hines said it had been working with Netball WA in negotiating a pathway back to playing netball.

“A final decision will be made after the next government announcements introducing phase three guidelines,” she said.

“With the current restrictions of indoor gatherings, the ANA have announced each team will be limited to a maximum of 12 people.

“These fixtures are based on a maximum of eight teams competing in each grade.

“In these unprecedented times we are bound by government restrictions which are continually changing.

“The proposed fixture can only occur if government restrictions are lifted allowing gatherings of up to 100 people.”

Hines said the ANA was putting health measures in place.

“The ANA, in collaboration with ALAC are working towards formulating a hygiene plan and developing court and capacity plans that meet government requirements,” she said.

“Players, coaches, managers and umpires will be required to leave the premises immediately after games are played to allow cleaning to occur and preparations for the next games to begin.”

Netball WA announced last week that community netball training could return from Monday under strict conditions.

Teams can only be on court for 45 minutes for training with the last 15 minutes requiring players to clean and vacate the building.

Balls can only be used between two people or very small groups and must be sanitised and wiped before and after every training.

Each team is required to wipe down any chairs, tables and goal posts upon completion of the training session and vacate prior to the next team entering.

Only 10 people are allowed on each court throughout the one-hour block.

“Once phase three is implemented, unrestricted trainings can commence,” Hines said.

“This will allow four-five weeks of unrestricted training before the start of the season.

“All court bookings for this season are to go through the ANA and not ALAC directly.”