If local sporting codes had not already made the very difficult, but ultimately, correct decision for them to abandon plans to provide competitions this winter sporting season, yesterday's directive from the Chief Health Officer might convince them there's nothing wrong with saying no to season 2020.
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A statement released mid-afternoon declared that the difficult but necessary decision has been made to halt the resumption of full-contact training and competition for people aged 19 and over in regional Victoria.
Full-contact training was due to resume for codes that had not already given in to hopes of holding games this winter, on Monday.
This month's spike in coronavirus cases, not just in Melbourne, but more recently in regional centres such as Bendigo, led to the decision that community sport in regional Victoria must remain non-contact.
Ultimately, it could also save lives, something we should never lose sight of.
Further easing of restrictions, including target dates, will be considered by medical authorities and the government by the end of July, but the likelihood of contact sport for adult players being staged in Victoria any time soon, is not looking good.
The reality for all of us to consider is that playing sport, while important to the health and wellbeing of those involved, is not as important as the bigger picture that is the state's overall recovery from the pandemic and all its devastating impacts.
Sport also helps unite our communities, offers a social outlet and other mental health benefits for participants and supports alike, but our next challenge is to seek to provide these tangible benefits in whatever other means we can, in the modern COVID-19 environment.
Health professionals far more qualified than most of us will continue to monitor the virus' progress or otherwise, with a view to sport returning whenever it can, but in the interim, we all have a far more important contest on our hands.
