How Canberra sports are coping with a shutdown

Canberra's summer and winter sports will unite in a bid to ensure they all get a chance to run their seasons in some capacity despite the COVID-19 disruption.

The ACT government will announce how they'll help - whether that's through a cash injection or subsidising ground hiring fees - after Easter at a time when sponsorship and registration fees have stopped.

Canberra's major sports called a meeting last week to discuss what looms as scheduling chaos when restrictions are eventually lifted.

The football codes and cricket are set to clash over ground availability, with several clubs sharing the same venues and facilities.

But they'll look to re-ignite the cooperative spirit that emerged during the drought in 2006-07 when the ACT was on the verge of stage-four water restrictions and massive ground closures.

Canberra Region Rugby League general manager Mark Vergano was Cricket ACT chief executive during the drought and he said the challenges posed by the pandemic reminded him of those days.

"Back in the drought we had that massive cooperative effort and all the work that we did," he said. "In those days I was with cricket. We had a ton of work done around sharing facilities so we're reinstituting that spirit of cooperation and helping.

"As things become maybe a little clearer we can start to get down to some detail as to what that may look like."

Here's the latest coronavirus update for every amateur competition in Canberra.

The Canberra Raiders Cup might be reduced to carnivals and gala days as late as November if their best-case scenario of an abbreviated season falls through.

Local rugby league has shut down until at least May 1, but Vergano said they might not be back until August or September.

He was hopeful they could come to an agreement with the summer sports to use grounds later than normal through the Coalition of Major Participation Sports group.

Normally the ACT's sports grounds go into lockdown in October for renovation, but Vergano hoped a compromise could be reached.

He's come up with several plans to cover all contingencies so rugby league's ready to return when the government gives it the go ahead.

They include an abbreviated season followed by a finals series and then all the way down to one-off events - similar to West Belconnen's pre-season nines tournament.

"You start with maybe a limited competition and if the timing starts to squeeze up you look at your carnivals and gala days to get people active," Vergano said.

"The main focus is getting people out active for their health and mental well-being.

"Our scenario planning starts with some sort of competition, that's your August-September, if we're starting to get into October-November it starts to take on your carnival and gala days to get something up and happening.

"It might be four or five carnival days at different locations depending on what resources are available.

"Different circumstances calls for total flexibility, creative thinking and a different view of the world."

All grassroots football has been suspended until May 31, in line with Football Federation Australia's nationwide halt on organised football activities.

There is no confirmed date of an evaluation but Capital Football boss Phil Brown says the organisation is considering a range of proposals for when competitions, like the National Premier League, can start in Canberra.

The NPL competition would have been in its third round this weekend if the season had started on time. Capital Football are hoping to start the NPL season in July, depending on advice from the government and FFA.

The starting date will determine the competition's format, whether it's condensed into one or two rounds, or if a restructure across the NPL levels is needed.

Tuggeranong United coach Mitch Stevens says Capital Football and the clubs' advisory committee need to consider providing clubs with a short pre-season.

"My concern is they run a short, modified season but there's no preparation time," Stevens said. "Then it turns into something with injuries and poor performances."

Clubs are facing a loss of revenue by either the reduction or loss of the season, as well as fund cuts from their partners. In turn, revenue loss could also impact the pay of contracted NPL players.

Capital Football has advised clubs to pause any payment plans and put measures in place to ensure registration money already received to date are being held in the clubs' bank.

Clubs will provide some sort of refund to players if the season is reduced or lost. There could be inequities in how much money is returned as some participants would have already received services.

"All clubs need to stick together and decision making should be in unison," Belconnen United president Joe Carbone said.

"For instance, if we're going to pass on some sort of refund then we need to do it similarly to keep the competition running so there's no teams dropping off.

"As a community, Canberra needs to be one. The football community needs to come together to say 'how are we going to get ourselves out of this?'"

ACT rugby officials will consider introducing a Canberra premier division sevens tournament to fill the gap if they are unable to host a full or meaningful John I Dent Cup season.

Canberra's first grade competition was scheduled to begin on March 28, but Rugby Australia has suspended all play until at least June 1.

The 17-week regular season was supposed to finish on July 25, with the grand final to be played on August 15. It's hoped the season can be pushed back with the number of rounds reduced.

ACT rugby is usually the earliest winter competition to finish after the National Rugby Championship was introduced to bridge the gap between amateur and professional rugby.

It's understood the Canberra Vikings are still planning for the NRC to go ahead, but Rugby Australia hasn't given any indication as to whether it will.

One option is cancelling the NRC to allow club competitions in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane to run in full rather than stopping in August, but that could see the Gungahlin Eagles, Uni-Norths Owls, Wests and Royals clash with cricket over ground use.

Brumbies Rugby competitions manager Mat Vowels said officials could consider a sevens format, which could include clubs from the southern inland catchment and the south coast.

"I'd think we'd have to look at pulling the rounds back, maybe just to home and away," Vowels said.

"We have to look at whatever options and we'll obviously talk to the clubs about those. The challenge, as a winter sport, is how far we can extend into summer.

"We've always been looking to get into a premier sevens competition and this may the catalyst for us to pull the trigger on that. That might be a fallback option in October, November or December so we can get some rugby in this year. We don't really know what can happen, but we have to keep planning."

Midweek games have been floated as a possibility with AFL Canberra chiefs determined to create an even playing field in its six-team senior league.

Officials are drafting models of revamped senior competitions after all football-related activities were postponed until at least May 31.

The women's first grade competition was due to begin on April 10, with men following suit on April 18.

The most plausible option is to slice the 15-round competition back to 10 rounds, giving each club a home and away fixture against each rival in the six-team league.

AFL NSW/ACT game development manager Luke Martin says "integrity has got to be at the heart" of any decision.

Ainslie are striving for a fifth consecutive premiership while Tuggeranong and Gungahlin have recently been anchored to the bottom of the table.

"We're having conversations with clubs and various other stakeholders as to what is a situation that is too late [to start a season]," Martin said.

"Obviously there are parts out of our hands and we understand that. It certainly is an unprecedented year.

"[Midweek games have] certainly been part of the consideration and the conversation, but it's all speculation. At this time we are working off a May 31 shutdown. At the end of April, there will be a review of that date.

"We want to make sure we get enough games in for it to be a good competition. We want to make sure we work as best as we can with our clubs, players and umpires to facilitate that."

Juniors could play multiple games per day in gala events. The Canberra Demons are waiting to see what their future holds with the NEAFL likely to fall in line with state-level competitions across the country.

Hockey ACT boss Rob Sheekey is prepared to run a shortened season to decide the Capital League One premiership winners.

But Sheekey will not rush to put a start date on the competition given hockey has been suspended indefinitely in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

"Any time between now and October, we will be ready to commence. If we need to start a season very late in the year, then we will do so," Sheekey said.

"We play in both winter and summer anyway, so we just need to wait and see when it is. We won't push our [winter] season beyond Christmas."

Netball ACT is prepared to play State League and community competitions across summer if social distancing restrictions are not lifted in the coming months.

The State League competition has been postponed until after July 1, in line with the organisation's suspension on all netball activity.

Once Netball ACT receives the green light to restart competitions, State League and Junior Championships could be pushed back further to ensure elite athletes can train before taking the court.

There is no restriction on when competitions can start because netball is not competing with other sports for facilities.

Netball ACT President Louise Bilston said the organisation is looking at a phased approach to restarting competitions, including spreading out the season from September to February.

"Our management team is looking at a range of scenarios that if we're able to do some sort of court work come July 1, how that will roll over the next sixth months," Bilston said.

"We're looking to have a phased season this year to accommodate what we can do when we're coming out of isolation in our community. We can't see us being able to go back to our traditional format of sport straight away.

"Our elite competitions like State League and Junior Championships will be pushed back until later in the season so athletes can train in an elite way before they get onto court.

"If next year's season has to be delayed because we're delivering the 2020 season over the summer period, then we're prepared to do that."