It is with deep regret that Australian Oztag has to abandon the 2021 Senior Australian Championships.
We are all aware of the amount of rain which has fallen over the Northern rivers and the Greater Sydney basin in the last two weeks. The devastation it has caused and the impact it has had on our players, their families and friends has been enormous.
New South Wales is in a state of emergency and our thoughts are with all of those affected. We understand that their priorities must be with recovery efforts rather than playing Oztag.
Secondary to the decision to postpone the tournament, Perry Haddock attended Coffs Harbour on Tuesday morning to inspect C.ex Stadium and surrounding fields with Council Staff and the Stadium Greenkeepers.
Although the fields are starting to dry out, the long-range weather forecast indicates further rain in Coffs Harbour and across NSW next week which may prevent us from hosting an effective tournament.
Australian Oztag would like to thank Council and greenkeeping staff who did provide us with a contingency plans to use different variations of fields, however, considering the devastation right across the Sydney basin on Tuesday 8th March and the impact it has had on the Oztag community, we are abandoning the tournament.
We understand better than anyone the impact decisions like this can have on players, families and the local Coffs Harbour community. However, by making this decision now we hope to minimize the impact and allow teams to make arrangements with accommodation & travel.
This brings me to the decision by AO to abandon the tournament rather than postponing it.
This tournament has already been postponed from November 2021.
To postpone the tournament again, in an already very busy Oztag schedule in 2022, creates more logistical problems. E.G. Weather, scheduling and hiring the venue, close to the June state cup dates, accommodation availability, referees and also consideration was given to the fact that Australian teams are not being selected from this tournament & Queensland teams were not represented.
Although this decision was not made lightly, to abandon the Senior Championships and move on to the 2022 tournaments just makes sense.
Bill Harrigan
Australian Oztag General Manager