The Bendigo Braves' 2020 NBL1 South season has officially been called off.
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The league made the decision on Tuesday afternoon to cancel the season in its entirety due to the current circumstances surrounding the coronavirus pandemic.
Bendigo Stadium general manager of sport Ben Harvey said the decision to cancel the season was expected.
"This decision is not an unexpected one given the current situation and the health and well-being of our entire community must take priority," Harvey said.
"The Bendigo Braves will be around for many years to come and we see this as another challenge to overcome and another page in the history of our great club."
The NBL1 had planned a postponement of the season until mid-May, but after the announcement of an indefinite closure for all indoor sporting centres across the country, the decision was made to cancel the season.
The club had been hard at work during the past few months with several new signings in addition to first-year coach Mark Alabakov taking lead of the women's squad.
In the 2019 season both the men's and women's teams impressed their opponents.
The women's squad made it to the preliminary finals, while the men fell short in the championship match.
However, amid all that is going on, the Braves remain positive toward the challenges ahead.
"One thing that you can be certain about is that the Bendigo Braves will ride this wave of uncertainty and come out the other side stronger than ever, with the continued support of our ever-present partners and passionate fans, we will continue the 35 year legacy that the former players, coaches, administrators, volunteers and supporters have left behind," Harvey said.
NBL chief operating officer Andy Crook said it was the best decision to make as health and safety was the overall priority.
"Obviously this is unfortunate but it is the most appropriate decision under the current circumstances," Crook said.
"The health and safety of players, staff and officials as well as the wider community comes first.
"We also want to allow the clubs to focus on re-establishing grassroots basketball as a matter of priority when the time is right.
"I want to acknowledge the efforts of everyone involved in NBL1, in particular Basketball Victoria, Basketball Queensland, Basketball South Australia and all of our clubs and players.
"We will work with them as we continue to monitor the situation and work towards resuming basketball at a community level at the appropriate time."
Last week fellow central Victorian club and NBL1 team, the Ballarat Miners and Rush made the decision to pull out of the competition.
Basketball is just one of the many sports impacted by the coronavirus.
In the past week there have been major postponements and cancellations to several sports across the country.
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