Sport all around the region has gone quiet; the soccer fields are empty, the basketball courts are bare and no Group 10 teams are hitting the footy fields.
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Another sport that has felt the pinch of COVID-19 is Lithgow Netball Association with the government restrictions on sporting and the closure of the Wallerawang Indoor Sports Stadium by Lithgow Council.
According to Lithgow Netball president Denise Nightingale this is the first postponement of the competition in 50 years.
According to Nightingale the start date was originally a bit later this year due to a request by Netball NSW to delay starting dates to enable coaches and umpires to attend workshops that they were holding.
"We also didn't want to have a start, stop season due to Easter and the school holidays, our starting date was due to be the 2nd of May and although we could still achieve it, we are bound by the government restrictions, so we will have to wait and see," she said.
At this stage it is unsure whether the full competition will go ahead or whether the season will have to be shortened.
"We will be holding an executive meeting soon to discuss the possibility of starting on time but if not what our company will look like if we don't," Nightingale said.
While team registrations were supposed to be in by Good Friday, the committee is keeping them open longer due to the restrictions.
"More players are always welcome, they just have to contact us at lithgownetball@gmail.com," she said.
Players are being encouraged to keep their fitness up before the start of the netball season, especially those in a representative position.
"We are encouraging all our players, especially our rep ones to follow the NetFit sessions on Facebook and also some coaches have set up home training programs to allow the players to continue their netball passion at home," she said.
Lithgow is currently awaiting confirmation from Netball NSW in regards to representative competitions, and whether they will go ahead later this year.
Lithgow's junior program 'Net Set Go' will also commence as soon as possible.
"This is for boys and girls from five to 10 that would like to learn netball in a fun environment," Nightingale said.
"If anyone is interested in playing they can email at the address above or contact us through the Facebook page and we can then advise them."
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A release from Netball NSW stated that noting that under the current Public Health Order there can be no training sessions until June, 30 and Netball NSW would recommend that competitions start on approximately Saturday, July 18.
This date coincides with the end of mid-year school holidays and was also the date nominated as the preferred start date in their recent survey.
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