Coota Bears president Paul Clancy announced on Tuesday that the club made the very difficult decision to withdraw from the 2020 Southern Inland Junior Rugby Union competition.
This was a very hard decision for the president to make, but the committee decided that as a result of the ever-increasing changes, the potential for risk if the Bears continued to play for the season outweighed the decision not to play.
The committee made the decision that it was not worth the risk to players, coaches, families and communities.
The decision to withdraw from the competition is in line with the recent NSW Government’s attempts to limit community transmissions and recommendations to limit travel and contact with wider communities.
While the club has withdrawn from the competition for this season, the Bears wish to still remain open as a club and will continue to train and have fun on Friday afternoons at the Country Club Oval from 4pm.
The Club would like to thank all the coaches as they have indicated that they will continue to turn up on Friday’s for training.
There are plans to have a social mixed touch competition up and running in the next couple of weeks, with all players welcome to play.
The club wishes to acknowledge and thank Jack Heffernan and Southern Inland Rugby Union for all their efforts, work and support this year, and the Bears wish the remaining clubs all the best for the season.
SIRU have decided to suspend the start of the season for a week to redo the draw and schedule of games.
If any Cootamundra Bears players wish to play this season they will be more than welcome to attend other Gala Days and play for other teams.
Paul Clancy knows that all the players will be disappointed in this decision not to proceed this year, but the club hopes that they can understand the reasoning behind the decision.