The arrival of NSW government Return to Play Guidelines will play a key role in determining the path back to the field for the Illawarra's footballers.
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With the announcement of the easing of coronavirus restrictions later this week, Football South Coast is waiting on the report before they confirm their plans for the the resumption of training and matches.
The organisation's CEO Ann-Marie Balliana said they expect to receive the manual later this week, at which point they will be able to provide an update to the clubs.
"We're waiting on a framework from the NSW government before we confirm the path forward," Balliana said.
"The document, the NSW Return to Play Guidelines will provide us with more information.
"Each sport needs to understand the 10-person max rules and how it relates to their sport. For example for football, is that 10 people for each third of the field, or the whole field.
"We need to understand the 10 person limit, how it fits different facilities, we're waiting on more details.
"We're hopeful it will be this week at some stage, but we don't have an idea on a timeframe yet."
While the final makeup of this year's junior and senior competitions is still to be determined, Football South Coast has spent the past month planning a number of different options.
The scenario chosen will largely depend on the guidelines provided by the government.
With her organisation spending the past month planning for a range of situations, Balliana is confident resuming football activities will be a quick process.
"We haven't confirmed one model just yet. Not having a date makes it difficult, as soon as we're given a date, we'll know what model we're choosing.
"We've been liaising with the clubs, so there should be no surprises when the date comes out of what the scenarios look like.
"We've been liaising with all the key stakeholders to ensure we are ready to go once we get that date.
"The discussion with cricket has been ongoing in regards to extending our season, with councils as well, so we can make sure we hit the ground running."
Balliana also reiterated her previous comments that juniors will likely be the first to see a return to competitive play, with the senior players expected to have a training period before their seasons commence.
This, she said, was in the interest of player safety.
"The initial thoughts could be juniors kick off straight away, where seniors we may use the opportunity for some training.
"We'll do that with respect to player welfare to get the players ready to go. It's not going to be too long, but we need to allow a period of training for the seniors."
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