Dear Members, Players and Supporters,
As many if you will be aware, the 2020 season is finally upon us, with the Shute Shield preparing to get under way on July 18th. In the wake of the shutdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, West Harbour have had to make many adjustments to ensure that we can continue to compete at the highest level of club rugby in the nation, while maintaining safe practices and health standards for all of our players, coaches, managers, volunteers, members and supporters.
We have been working closely with the Sydney Rugby Union (SRU) and NSW Rugby to ensure that the Back to Training protocols are strictly adhered to, and the Return to Play protocols are as well. Given the uncertain nature of the past several months, the SRU came to the agreement that for clubs to participate in the 2020 Shute Shield competition, they must field 1st Grade, 2nd Grade and 1st Colts sides. It was under this framework that West Harbour’s Board of Directors, amended the Club’s plans for season 2020 and reworked our operational model to ensure that we would be ready to compete at the highest level across these 3 grades.
In the past 2 weeks, as restrictions have eased and other sporting codes have started to return to training and playing as well, there has been a renewed push by many clubs to have between 2 and 4 additional grades play in season 2020 as well (3rd Grade, 4th Grade, 2nd Colts, 3rd Colts). Given this short turn around and the very real danger of a 2nd wave of infections in the coming months, as can be seen in Victoria, the Board felt that this was not in the Club’s best interest for season 2020, despite our strong history of success in the lower grades and the atmosphere and cultural representation that these teams always provide for West Harbour.
As such, the Board of Directors have decided to continue as originally planned, and field 1st Grade, 2nd Grade and 1st Colts sides for season 2020. This will only be for this year and we have already commenced our preparation for season 2021, ensuring that we will be competing for titles across all grades again. This means that for season 2020, all players are pushing for selection in the match day 23 of either 1st Grade, 2nd Grade or 1st Colts, and competition for places will be very strong.
I understand that this will disappoint many of our members and supporters, but the Board has made a decision to act in what we believe is the best interests of the club, allowing us to focus on health & safety, financial sustainability, and operational adaptability as the competition returns to play amongst many ongoing unknowns that have stemmed from the Covid-19 pandemic.
We will continue to provide ways for all players to engage, train and support the teams we are fielding in season 2020 and want to ensure that we continue to build towards a future where West harbour is once again considered to be a true power house across all grades.
Tom Andrews
President
