AFTER three months of trying to set goals, Bathurst residents can now start to score them with the news the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium will open on Tuesday.
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Since being forced to close the doors on March 15, Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium manager Andrew James has watched on as return to play goals were set and revised.
At first it was bleak, but over the past two weeks the state government has given the nod for indoor stadiums to re-open and approved community sport for both juniors and seniors to commence from July 1.
So James will open the stadium on Tuesday and after finalising all the return to play measures which will outline the restrictions and protocols players must adhere to, competition start dates will be set.
"We will try and get a senior comp up as soon as possible, probably that first or second week of July we'll try and get a comp going. Then juniors will likely start term three because there is no point starting in school holidays," James said.
"Going off last season's numbers, we are probably looking at about 400 juniors playing through the week but that's with high schools too - actually it's probably closer to 500 with high school and primary basketball.
"So what we'll try and do over the next three weeks is start Goldminers training and try and get all the user groups back in there before we try and start a senior basketball, multi-sport, netball comp as soon as we can in July."
Basketball NSW released its latest update on Saturday morning and it confirmed that people would be permitted to train at venues across the state.
"Indoor basketball activities [training non-contact] can resume, associations will still need to comply with physical distancing measures and hygiene protocols," the update said.
Though no dates have yet been set for when the competitions the representative Bathurst Goldminers teams contest - such as Western Junior League and the Waratah League - will recommence, the update stated "The Basketball NSW team expects to release an event calendar to you very soon."
James pointed out that while the doors of the Bathurst Indoor Stadium will be open once again, it will not be the same situation players enjoyed prior to the coronavirus pandemic.
Equipment needs to be cleaned, social distancing and hygiene measures adhered to and the numbers of people in the stadium at any one time monitored.
James asked that people "be patient and respectful as they follow these new guidelines."
"It will likely be one court per hall and we'll have to abide by all the social distancing laws, you'll have to sign in," James said.
"I'll have to get the restrictions and guidelines as to how we are going to go about it and then I'll email that on to all the user groups, all those who use the stadium, so they know what to do moving forward. It's not as easy as walking in, doing your thing and going home.
"I think cleaning will be my full-time job from next week onward, I don't think I'll be doing much work in the office, I think I'll be wiping everything up," James added with a laugh.
Due to current restrictions, Jess and Jump Inflatables will not be returning just yet.
