Volleyball Horsham season suspended as sport enters "unprecedented times"

Volleyball Horsham has made the decision to suspend all volleyball for the next two weeks at least, in light of the ongoing threat of the coronavirus.

"It was a very tough decision to make, but in the end, the health of our participants and the wider community was more important than a game of volleyball," Volleyball Horsham's David Berry said.

Volleyball Horsham was not prepared to take the risk given the rapid escalation of the virus in the community and the varying decisions being made by those in authority. As our competitions are made up of predominantly students and teachers it was the best decision to make especially for those groups of people.

The decision to suspend play was a difficult one given that volleyball is not a contact sport and that opponents are separated by the net.

Volleyball Horsham was prepared to put in place strict biosecurity measures including making hand sanitiser available to all participants, changing the match ball for each game, limiting the number of people in the stadium to only those participants and their parents, no shaking of hands and moving players out of the stadium once their commitment had finished. In the end, it was wise just to suspend the season.

With a week to go until the school holidays and then two weeks of holidays it is hoped that by the time this three week period was up, we might be able to resume the season as per the draw.

That would give the Wednesday night competition three clear weeks and the Monday night competition four weeks before a decision may have to be made after that.

We also must spare a thought for our members representing Phantoms in the State League. Volleyball Victoria has already postponed round one on April 4. They will review their decision after Easter.

Post the State League season starting, all country associations begin preparations for the Country Championships over the long weekend in June. Already it appears that this event will be cancelled meaning for the first time in its 50 plus years of history the June Long Weekend will be volleyball free.

For some of us this is hard to imagine.

All of us know that our sports are not just a game played any day or night, it is a social networking opportunity that a lot of people look forward to each week. It is important to keep checking on your friends to ensure they are not being affected by the missed opportunities.

As I said the sporting world is in unprecedented times.