While numerous South Coast sports are closing their doors on the 2021 season, Group Seven Rugby League remains optimistic they will return to the field in some capacity in the near future.
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Reiterating this is the fact all the competition's junior sides, excluding the four in the Shellharbour LGA (Albion Park-Oak Flats, Shellharbour, Stingrays and Warilla-Lake South), returned to the field at the weekend.
New operations manager Ashton Sims said this shows Group Seven's commitment to finish the 2021 campaign in some fashion.
"Saturday saw our juniors teams outside the Greater Sydney lockdown area in action for the first time in weeks, which really rewarding for all," Sims said.
"All the hard work to get the games off the ground over the past few weeks was worth it to see the smiles on all the children's faces over the weekend, as well as all the lovely messages and calls we've received from the clubs.
"That's what grassroots rugby league is all about - giving our children something to look forward to each weekend.
"To me, sport is such an important part of a child's life, as it teaches them trust, respect, accountability and comradery, which are invaluable traits to have in their lives."
At this stage, this is the first of three rounds of matches Group Seven has drawn up for its junior sides, which will be reevaluated once there's an update by the state government and NSW Health.
"Hopefully we have some positive news come out soon about the lifting of restrictions, which will allow us to update the draw and finish off the junior season in some capacity," former Gerringong Lion Sims said.
"Next week, we are meeting with the board of the merged junior competitions as to what the best approach might be - which is of course reliant on the directive from the state government.
"We are in regular dialogue with NSWRL's Peter Clark about different contingency plans and he's been encouraged by how proactive our competition has been in trying to keep our players engaged and excited about playing the sport.
"Integrated into all this is the return to play protocols because the health of safety of all our players is absolutely paramount."
Sims also thanked each of the relevant parties for their help in getting players back on the field.
"While numerous other sports have cancelled the remainder of their seasons, we have adopted that against all odds attitude and been able to provide rugby league to all those junior clubs," the 36-year-old, who was sad to see Bomaderry's Koori Knockout postponed once again, said.
"A lot this is has to be credited to the hard work by NSWRL and the Group Seven junior board, not to mention the blessing from the four Shellharbour LGA-based clubs for games to go on without them.
"That gesture hasn't gone unnoticed and from the bottom of my heart, I thank those clubs for the selflessness, because, at the end of the day, no one is bigger than rugby league."
While most of the Group Seven juniors have now returned to the field, their seniors remain stuck on the sidelines.
But Sims, along with president Scott McLaurin, remains optimistic of crowning premiers in each of the six grades in 2021.
"We're currently discussing a number of different models and dissecting which is the fairest, as we don't want to create an animosity with any clubs," Sims said.
"We are also mindful of not stepping on the toes of summer sports and overstaying our welcome with some grounds.
"We've had some positive conversations with respective councils about grounds over the past few weeks and will continue to liaise with them in the near future.
"The most important thing is we everyone knows we have the best interests of all the clubs at heart and are keen to look after all stakeholders of your game, to ensure the growth and sustainability of our competition for years to come."