A revised Illawarra Premier League season could resume post-lockdown in 2021.
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Football South Coast remains hopeful of its competitions - including the IPL - returning this year, despite the NSW government extending Greater Sydney's lockdown by four weeks on Wednesday.
FSC chief executive officer Ann-Marie Balliana said her organisation would continue to work closely with other sporting bodies, such as Cricket NSW, to see if a return was feasible.
"Most of our comps have had 12, 13 rounds so hopefully we can fit in three or four rounds for those competitions not too impacted by the cricket season. The majority of Premier League and District League clubs, for example, aren't impacted by cricket so we could potentially play that out until the end of October," she said.
"I think there's a real need for the community, when restrictions do ease, in terms of mental health and wellbeing to get out there and play. So we hope to squeeze out what we can. Our priority is getting as many people to have another few weeks of playing the round, which means that finals aren't a priority for the majority of competitions, if not all of them.
"The end of October will be the likely cut-off point for the Premier League clubs, because the player registrations open up on December 1, so we need to give clubs at least a month to plan for the start of the next season."
Earlier this month, Balliana had told the Mercury that FSC hoped the 2021 season would be completed as soon as possible. However, the government has since extended the region's lockdown twice.
FSC met with local clubs earlier this week to discuss the potential return of football this season, and Balliana admitted the feedback had been mixed.
"The feeling is that it's out of everyone's control. And I think the momentum and motivation takes a big knock when we started out strongly and there's been a huge gap in the middle (of the season)," she said.
"But some clubs feel that we need to get out there and play and do what we do, which is provide community sport for our players. I think that's the consensus around the place. It's one thing to look at it from an association perspective or a clubs' perspective, but it's important to look at it from the players' perspective as well and give them an opportunity to run around with their mates."
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