READ MORE - Bendigo lockdown: What the new coronavirus restrictions mean for me?

THE region's sporting fields, courts and venues will lie dormant this weekend with a state-wide "circuit-breaker" lockdown shutting down community sport.

In response to the state's active number of COVID-19 cases rising by 12 to 34 on Thursday, Victoria will go into a seven-day snap lockdown from 11.59pm tonight, with the restrictions including the closing of all community sport, both indoor and outdoor.

Should there be no extension of the lockdown, the disruption to the region's sporting competitions will be for one weekend only.

The abandonment of the weekend's sport means some bumper football matches won't proceed, including two first v second contests - Sandhurst v Eaglehawk in the Bendigo league and White Hills v Lockington-Bamawm United in the Heathcote District league.

"The season had been going along well and we had all hoped it would continue that way, but we always prepared that a situation like this could arise," AFLCV region manager Carol Cathcart said on Thursday.

"We've had exposure sites within our region and obviously we need to make sure the health of everybody is at the forefront of all decisions that are made.

"Hopefully, everybody does the right thing, it's only a short circuit-breaker and we'll be back into competition next week."

While the lockdown isn't due to be enforced until 11.59pm tonight, AFL Central Victoria recommended that all club training scheduled for Thursday night be cancelled.

The Bendigo Football-Netball League was due to play round seven on Saturday.

While there will be no games on Saturday, the league will meet with its clubs early next week to discuss re-scheduling the round to the vacant Saturday, July 3, which at this stage is a general bye.

"We didn't have any hard and fast rules going into the season, but we had a guiding principles document as to how we would approach such a scenario if it presented," BFNL manager Cameron Tomlins said.

"We'll probably wait until early next week to have a discussion with our presidents at the possibility of picking up this round of matches given we have a general bye in July.

"Given we missed an entire season last year, we want to be able to play as many home and away games as we can this season.

"Hopefully, we're only impacted for one weekend and we can pick up from where we left off next Saturday."

The North Central league will also hold discussions with its clubs about a potential re-scheduling of this weekend's matches.

The NCFL has two vacant weekends on the horizon - Saturday, June 12 (Queen's Birthday weekend bye) and Saturday, July 3 (school holiday general bye).

The Loddon Valley league board will meet tonight to discuss how it would respond to the weekend cancellation.

"We do have scenarios available, but the board was always going to approach it as we'll deal with it when the situation presents, which it now has," LVFNL executive officer Laura Naughton said.

Saturday was to have been round eight of the LVFNL, with the senior football headlined by the marquee match between Pyramid Hill and Bridgewater in a clash of two top three teams.

The LVFNL has no games scheduled on the Queen's Birthday long weekend.

The Heathcote District league having met in February to discuss a shut down scenario has - providing the lockdown stays at seven days - opted to play this Saturday's round eight matches the following weekend, and push round nine back a week, ensuring all clubs play each other once before re-evaluating its fixture heading into the second half of the season.

The league has no spare weekends available and has its grand final date locked in for Saturday, September 4.

Given the league has no leeway in which to re-schedule rounds, under this scenario it would mean a round in the second half of the season would have to be dropped at some stage to stick to its grand final date.

"While unfortunate and disappointing, we understand the lockdown is in the interest of public safety and to stop the spread of COVID in the community," HDFNL chairman Peter Cole said.

"As a league we would much rather miss a week of football and netball than put the remainder of the season in jeopardy and face the possibility of it being abandoned as it was last year.

"Our clubs have done an amazing job of implementing COVID controls through their venues and we thank them for the work they have done."

The snap lockdown has also forced the postponement of Sunday's annual Fosterville Gold Junior Gala Day, which was scheduled to be played at Maiden Gully featuring junior football and netball teams from the Heathcote District, Loddon Valley, North Central and Maryborough-Castlemaine District leagues.

"At this stage we're postponing the gala day and will look to play it again later in the year," Cathcart said.

There's also the potential for this Sunday's round seven in the Central Victorian Women's Football League to be played on the competition's vacant Sunday, July 4, while the Bendigo Junior Football League has the capacity to factor in this weekend's cancellation into its fixturing following last week's completion of grading games.

The Bendigo Pioneers' round six NAB League game against the Western Jets on Sunday at Melton is also among the weekend's football postponements.

Meanwhile, for the Bendigo Amateur Soccer League there's the added blow of the shut down of community sport coinciding with its planned Female Football Round.

The BASL's Female Football Round was to feature its 33 all-girls junior teams all playing at Epsom-Huntly between noon and 4.30pm on Saturday, plus a showcase of four senior women's games at Spring Gully on Sunday.

"It's really disappointing that we can't play this weekend, but we have all the resources in place to try to do the female round again in the future, it's just a matter of finding a round to re-schedule it to," BASL president Aaron Shooter said.

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