For the second year running, the Swan Hill Basketball Association have been forced to cancel their annual junior tournament due to the Covid pandemic.
With current Victorian Government restrictions seeing indoor organised sporting competitions banned at present, the Swan Hill Basketball Association were left with no choice, much to the disappointment of SHBA Basketball Administrator Kylie Kelly.
“We were one of the last tournaments to cancel for this season, purely because we were just hoping for a miracle that we would be able to host it,” Kelly said.
“All the other regions like Horsham, Mildura, Echuca were all hoping we could hold it too because everyone just wants our kids to get back playing and back to some normality.
“With four different age groups comprising Under 12’s, Under 14’s, Under 16’s and Under 18’s in both boys and girls, the tournament is a major event for our region, with teams from all over Victoria and also NSW in attendance.
“It’s such a big blow to our community as well, because every motel is booked out and every restaurant and pub is full for those two nights,” said Kelly.
“Unfortunately, we’ve had to straight out cancel it instead of postpone it too, because the Victorian Government road map isn’t really clear – at the moment we can only train outside.
“There really aren’t any dates to reschedule it to, even for next year, with lots of other clubs trying to reschedule theirs too.”
While their annual junior tournament will no longer go ahead, the Swan Hill Basketball Association are still hoping to get their junior and senior summer competitions up and running when restrictions ease.
