A WARRNAMBOOL and District league club has pulled the pin on junior action for 2020.
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Nirranda announced on Tuesday it had voted to abandon the season due to uncertainty stemming from coronavirus.
The Warrnambool and District league will otherwise continue its junior campaigns.
Blues president Jake Harkness said the decision was made in the interests of community safety.
He said public health was the club's primary concern.
We didn't want to get this call wrong. The only thing we can be guilty of is caring about our members and people.
- Jake Harkness
"It's a very tough time. With what's going on around the country and in Melbourne we felt health was more important," Harkness told The Standard.
"We didn't want to get this call wrong. The only thing we can be guilty of is caring about our members and people.
"The thing this season has been the protocols around running junior footy are near impossible to adhere to."
He said the club had been considering the decision for a period of time.
"We'd been thinking about it for a while. We voted no at the last meeting purely for the safety reasons and the situation around the state is worse now than it was then."
Harkness said Nirranda was certain of fielding juniors again next season.
"We're confident for next season, there's no problems there," he said.
All training has ceased immediately.
It comes after two Hampden league junior fixtures were postponed due to COVID-19 fears on Saturday.
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Nick Ansell
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
