Orange's stint without representative netball will grow longer after Netball NSW made the "difficult" decision to cancel the 2020 HART Junior and Senior State Titles.
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The organisation received advice from NSW Health to "avoid large, inter-regional championships".
A statement from Netball NSW on Tuesday said the governing body had determined that it would be irresponsible to proceed with the State Titles at this time.
The largest events on the Netball NSW calendar, the Junior and Senior State Titles bring associations from all corners of the state together to determine champions in numerous underage and opens age categories.
In 2020, six associations (Penrith District, Hawkesbury City, Parramatta Auburn, Baulkham Hills Shire, Eastwood Ryde and Blacktown City) were due to host the 2020 Junior State Titles from October 3-5, while four other Associations (Campbelltown District, Camden & District, Bankstown City and Fairfield City) were set to welcome the seniors on the same weekend.
It comes after the Orange Netball Association cancelled a regional competition to be held in the city over the weekend.
Netball NSW CEO Carolyn Campbell said the health of the wider community had to come first in 2020.
"Players, coaches, umpires, officials and parents would all be well aware that Netball NSW has held on to the hope of conducting the State Titles in 2020, maintaining an air of positivity that the re-scheduled October dates would enable the competitions to proceed," she said.
"Regrettably the time has come for us to concede that this won't be possible.
"We also received feedback from many associations in recent weeks. While a variety of options were considered, including localised competitions or limited age groups, the fact is that any version would require an element of travel which NSW Health are trying to avoid."
Campbell said if travel was limited, the event wouldn't be a truly state-wide competition.
"It goes without saying that this was not a decision taken lightly and we feel deeply sorry for those who had been planning for, and working so hard towards this year's event, but we look forward to 2021 with renewed hope and will focus all our efforts on that going forward," she said.
"For now, we are fortunate that regular competitions have been able to commence and we thank the netball community for their ongoing commitment to the health and safety protocols those competitions are running under."
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