Picola District Football Netball League is primed and ready to begin its season according to league operations manager Shane Railton.
Like all country football and netball leagues in Victoria, the PDFNL is waiting for the tick of approval from health experts and governing bodies to begin its season.
Railton was a guest on The Local Footy Show last week, where he spoke about the position of the league during the coronavirus pandemic.
He said the league and its clubs were keen to begin their season when state governments and governing bodies gave them the all-clear.
“We are ready to start as soon as we get the go-ahead,” Railton said.
“We are keen and ready to go, all our clubs have shown a great interest in getting going, so we're in that position that as soon as we get that go-ahead, we're going.”
The league postponed its season at the end of March as the public health crisis forced state and federal governments to tighten restrictions on community sport.
In the past week, federal and state governments have started to ease those restrictions.
However, one factor that seems to be a major roadblock for many leagues and their clubs getting back out on the park is the limit of crowd numbers.
Football and netball clubs face the risk of losing revenue from gate takings if a limit on spectators is put in place.
Railton said, although the league's board was cautious of finalising anything in stone, there had been some ideas thrown up to manage the crowd numbers.
“We are waiting on a start date before we start getting together as a board and finalising things,” Railton said.
“But we have got the possibility of actually segregating our crowds.
“We could potentially have four sections of our crowds and that's one way that we could potentially get to 400 if it was 100 (people limit).
“So we are certainly looking at different options that may work.”
Railton also highlighted the importance of the season resuming for the local community, saying clubs hoped to support local businesses that have suffered during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I've been in contact with all our clubs on a fairly regular basis, (our clubs) see it as a great opportunity to re-engage with their community,” he said.
“They also see the great importance of getting back and supporting some of the businesses that have supported them for a long time.
“We've got our sports shops, merchandise, apparel and our pubs and clubs.
“Some of those businesses need the football season to get going to be able to be sustainable.”