Ballarat regional cricketers and pennant lawn bowlers are among sportspersons who will have to wait until November before starting their summer seasons.
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A Victorian COVID-19 roadmap released on Sunday set Friday, November 5, as the likely date for the resumption of outdoor and indoor community sporting competitions across the state.
This is conditional on Victoria reaching the target of having at least 80 percent of the 16-plus population fully vaccinated.
Participants in community sport and other physical recreation will also have to be fully vaccinated.
In addition, there will be an outdoor cap of 500 people at venues and indoor cap of 150.
November 5 is also the day that regional Victoria and metropolitan Melbourne will come under the same COVID-19 rules.
As it stands in the City of Ballarat under lockdown, neither community sport training or competition is permitted in the municipality.
If this lockdown remains, outdoor training (with a cap of 50) will not get the green light until Tuesday, October 26.
The roadmap means the likes of Ballarat Cricket Association will have to review season starting dates. It had planned to hit off on Saturday, October 9. Ballarat pennant bowls will also have to revisit fixtures.
The roadmap has approved a return for golfers from next Sunday.
For regional Victoria under physical recreation and community sport, when it is forecast 80 percent of the 16-plus population has been single dose vaccinated:
- Outdoors only - 20 people per facility, but caps do not apply if 50 metres distance can be maintained between groups outdoors (eg. golf).
Under the metro Melbourne rules:
- You can play basketball, golf, tennis, cricket and other outdoor recreation acitivies together with the same limits as picnics. Accessing facilities must be contactless.
Indoor facilities in regional Victoria will be able to open their doors to the fully vaccinated on a limited basis from October 26.when at least 80 percent of the 16-plus population is fully vaccinated.
They will be capped at 30 people.
- Community sports returns indoors for minimum number required
The City Of Ballarat went into a seven-day lockdown, aligned with metropolitan Melbourne, on Thursday after a number of COVID-19 cases were found.
The state government is yet to announce whether this will end as scheduled, which would again have Ballarat living under the same rules as most of regional Victoria.
