DO NOT just do it.
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Do not just go back to the way things were when community sport was full-throttle across Ballarat.
There has to be a better way.
We are starting to get a whiff of some sports dusting off equipment and uniforms to bring back their games. There has even been chatter for crowd potential, changes to the way games are played and players paid.
All fantastic news.
Overwhelmingly the word from clubs and sporting support bodies is how much we need our organised sports back for the social aspect. Even if this has just been finally having a kick of the footy at training with mates or a proud grandparent cheering from the netball sidelines.
All important for our mental health and well-being.
As you start to make your way back to the field, do not forget the big lessons iso has taught us in being healthy.
From the lockdown outset, Ballarat has bucked the trend in merely curling up on the couch and streaming television shows to see out the pandemic.
Ballarat has exercised its chance to leave the house for exercise by turning Lake Wendouree's Steve Moneghetti Track into pedestrian and cycle traffic busier than Bourke Street.
But it has also been in our neighbourhoods - the refreshing dash about the block to start lunch break, the families out moving together in the evenings on bike or by foot or a combination, like the countless stream of parents chasing after toddlers on mini rides.
Iso life has encouraged us to adapt and the side effects for many people has been in moving more.
We can ease back into community sport all we like - and importantly, we should - but what happens to all that running and cycling? We cannot let it just stop.
As a region, before COVID-19 we weighed in more than the state average and we do not move as much as we should.
This columnist does not suggest a pandemic has changed this completely, but at the least it has sparked healthy habits that have continued into the start of a Ballarat winter. That says a lot about what we can do.
What happens to habits when the old life starts to encroach again? The parents who spend more time ferrying their children between sports than getting outside and moving with them? The office workers who have their sporting schedules for training and game day sorted but feel there is little time in between?
Organised sport is vital to communities, promoting a parochial passion and sense of belonging.
It is a way to push us to test our games against others and strive to improve. It is big life lessons in resilience and teamwork.
But there is something nice to have abuzz about the streets, being able to see the neighbours and not just their cars. That offers a sense of community too.
Bike shops across the city have reported a huge spike in repairs and parts sales. For some the demand felt like Christmas. Physiotherapists have treated a wave of iso injuries from people facing their walking or running capabilities.
For many, the running, walking and riding might have started as something we just had to do.
So we just did it.
We have learned a lot on the move and surely the next big lesson, as we ease out of iso life, is balance.
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