Disability Sports Australia (DSA) has just announced that the Toyota Wheelchair AFL Nationals will not go ahead in 2021 in Hobart in October.
As hosts of the planned event ParaQuad Tasmania is of course disappointed, but we understand and fully support the decision.
DSA says “given the unpredictability of state border closures and the likelihood of many teams being restricted access, the decision has been made to not hold the 2021 Nationals.”
DSA added the decision was made now to “avoid more potential costs and planning for teams.”
ParaQuad Tasmania looks forward to working with DSA and the AFL to bring the event to Tasmania in the future.
Boccia Australia (BA) also recently made public its decision not to hold the 2021 Boccia National Championships in November (also planned to be hosted by ParaQuad Tasmania.)
BA said, “after lengthy discussion and careful consideration the Board has made the very difficult decision that the reality of COVID-19 makes holding the Boccia Australia National Titles in 2021 untenable.
“The difficult decision was based on concern for the health of our athletes and the uncertainly around travel restrictions.
“We would like to thank ParaQuad Tasmania for all the great preparation work they’ve done towards organising what would have been a terrific competition,” BA said.
While ParaQuad Tasmania’s extremely disappointed we won’t be hosting the event this year the uncertainty around COVID and borders makes running the Nationals too risky for all concerned, not least our committed athletes and officials.
We look forward to hosting in Tasmania in the future.