Due to the ongoing impact of the current Greater Sydney lockdown due to Covid-19, the Board of Directors of Nepean Football Association, at their meeting on Wednesday 4th August resolved to abandon the remainder of the 2021 Winter Season.  Below is a letter sent to all Stakeholders on 5th August 2021.

Dear Members,

It is with a great sadness that I inform you of the decision made by the Nepean FA Board of Directors to abandon the NFA 2021 winter season.

As the governing body of football in our district we have remained transparent with members in how we have managed our activities through regular social media updates and the publication of our Return to Football Roadmap document.

At a board and management level, there have been many discussions around the changing landscape that this Covid lockdown has presented to our operations and the likelihood of us being able to complete our season.  We know that other associations and our state governing body, have found themselves in the same unenviable position of revaluating each time the goal posts were moved through the extension of lockdowns, and the tightening of rules within the community.

As you know, we initially took a hopeful position that we may be able to complete the season in various amended formats, however, with the passing weeks and the continuous climb in case numbers within the community, it soon became evident that things were not going to go our way.

Ordinarily, by this time of the year, our competition teams would have concluded their regular season and started their Championship Tournament Series.  The FNSW State Cup would have concluded and Champion of Champions representatives would have been all but declared.

As it stands now, the only similarity between this year and previous years is the anticipated prospect and mounting excitement of many players to be playing summer football soon.

I’d like to thank the many members who have offered their support, patience and understanding throughout this difficult period while we waited for direction, hope and good news.  Unfortunately, all three have been in short supply.

COMPETITION STANDINGS

Competition standings will be reviewed and amended in the following way:

As the competition was not played to completion, there will be no awards bestowed for winners of any competition.

Where a team or teams in a division have not all played the full round, those games that have been played will have their scores removed in order to put all teams on an equal footing.  Once this process has been completed, the results will be the final reflection of the 2021 Winter Season.

60th ANNIVERSARY & ANNUAL AWARDS DINNER

Our 60th Anniversary and annual awards dinner which was to be held in October will be cancelled.  We hope to be able to celebrate our Diamond Anniversary sometime in 2022.  Club admins will receive further information as it comes to hand.

SUMMER FOOTBALL

For those of you who aren’t ready to give up on football just yet, we encourage you to look out for any opportunities to continue playing.  We have summer football competitions being run at Penrith & Blue Mountains, and we know that both Colo & Wentworth Falls will have their competitions up and running soon too.  We hope that Covid doesn’t impact on Summer Football and that if you do want to play, you get to do so.

In closing, we like to thank all our players, coaches, managers, club committees, referees and supporters for joining us in our best attempts to bring you a football season.  We share your utter disappointment in not being able to conclude the season.

Please stay safe, stay home, don’t forget your mask and if you’re able to, get vaccinated.  We’ll try again in 2022 by which time, we hope that we will have seen the end, or the control of Covid-19 and all its variants.

Best of luck to you all.

Sincerely

Linda Cerone

Chief Executive Officer

Nepean Football Association Inc.