The Ballarat Royals will not play organised baseball in 2020.
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The club decided not to field a team in the Geelong Baseball Association A-grade competition due to uncertainty around the COVID-19 outbreak.
Royals president Scott Jones said given the recent outbreaks of the virus in Melbourne, the club did not want to put players at risk.
He said because many people travel to Geelong from Melbourne to work and play sport, the club could not guarantee the safety of members.
"We felt while we are isolated here, there was no need to put any of the club members at risk and we felt it would be a risk if we entered sides this year," he said.
The club took to Facebook to announce the decision, expressing regret at a lost year of baseball.
Jones said the lack of certainty around crowds and spectators also impacted the decision.
"With restrictions around clubrooms, changerooms and canteens, we felt it wasn't wroth having clubrooms and canteens available because we would only be allowed to have 10 people in there," he said.
Jones said the Royals were one of two clubs to pull the pin on the season. He said it was unlikely the league would play with only four teams.
Prior to the decision, Jones said the league had offered clubs an option for how the season would be run.
He said it intended to run a 10-week season, with the grand final to be held on October 3. Hygiene restrictions around chewing gum and tobacco would have been enforced.