https://www.townsvillebulletin.com.au/sport/local-sport/cowboys-icon-says-a-central-governing-body-could-be-key-to-regional-sports-survival/news-story/9e69b433568646bd683b187c6dd7bb09 AS employment takes a hit across the country, parents could be forced to make tough decisions on how their children partake in sport. And according to inaugural Cowboys coach Grant Bell, the impacts could be particularly felt in regional towns if measures were not taken. Unemployment rates across the country have spiked as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with early estimates by the Australian Bureau of Statistics suggesting more than 1.6 million Australians have lost their income. But Bell believes regional areas will be those most affected by this moving forward, with fewer resources able to build these communities back up from the crisis. Given families will likely have vastly different financial situations post-virus, Bell said choices would have to be made by parents regarding what capacity their children play sport in. He said as all sports rally to get off the ground in 2020, young athletes may also be stripped of the opportunity to play multiple sports as schedules and payments overlap. “If we have the unemployment rates across the country there’s a greater percentage of unemployment in regional areas because significant urban areas get up and going quicker,” Bell said.
“Parents will have to be discretionary about their spending around the sports their children play. “Do codes need to look and say let’s go back to four seasons during the year and four codes during the year so if children are playing more than one code? That takes co-operation across all sports.” With the NRL expected to return to action on May 28, rugby league will have an opportunity to broaden its reach as one of the first professional competitions to get back on the park. But as Bell told The Townsville Bulletin last week too hefty a focus on the elite product could neglect what needs to happen at the grassroots. In turn, this could impact the prosperity of the game long term. Bell has been prominent in rugby league circles for years, having coached at NRL, state and regional community levels. But he said it will not just be rugby league that needs to have that focus, as other sports seek to get their platform up and running at community levels. With that, given the time forced away from the field or court, codes could be in more direct competition with each other regardless of their typical seasons. Add in registration and equipment costs, and the accumulative impact on families could be too much. Bell said areas in North Queensland could be in the firing line given they have just got back on their feet after the 2019 floods. He said the onus would also fall on local governments in regional towns to investigate opportunities to bring all sports together to ensure they are accessible and not competing over each other. And a central body or forum could be the key to pull these sports together. “We can’t not recognise 18 months ago all those sports in the Murray area took a massive hit,” Bell said. “Whether or not they were fully or partially compensated coming back to support redevelopment of damaged facilities, they all took a significant hit. “What does that mean now having their second hit in 18 months? What does it mean for their families who are having a second hit building houses, and now found themselves in an employment challenge or business challenge? “If we lose more funding the potential is we’ll see an even greater contraction, and that could impact at the lower levels. It’s upon all codes to have a look at what could happen regionally.”
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AuthorI covered a vast range of sports and issues in my time with the Bulletin. Archives
June 2020
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