Excitement builds ahead of March 29 as sports return

Lovers of sport were given some welcome news this week as the government announced the return of outdoor sports on March 29.

Sports including football, golf and tennis will resume following a three month ban due to the ongoing nature of Covid-19, while gyms and leisure facilities will finally reopen their doors on April 12, although classes won’t return until mid-May.

The announcement was well received by sports clubs, groups and organisations, who have faced a frustrating period away from action.

The Football Association confirmed that the grassroots season has been extended until the end of June in order to provide additional flexibility and time for leagues to complete their fixtures this season.

In line with this guidance, the East Manchester Junior Football League has been hard at work to ensure that cup final dates, ranging from Under-sevens to U16s, will go ahead as planned, while an U17s’ age group for the 21/22 season has also been accepted.

Meanwhile, the announcement has given cricket clubs hope they will be able to fulfil a full season of action.

Greater Manchester League official Simon Lowndes said in a statement: “The appetite from clubs and players is there, we hope whatever form of the game we are allowed to play will enable us to have a full season with promotion and relegation and help us move towards pre-Covid activity.

“Of course there are six weeks or so still to go before the first ball is set to be bowled and as we have learned over the last year so much can change in that time, so the GMCL Board will be constantly monitoring all Covid-related issues so we can get on with our game, but ensuring the safety of everyone who takes part, organises or comes to watch and spend their money over our club bars. The one positive on the opening of bars of course, and the main income stream for most, is that we have some of the biggest beer gardens around! We look forward to a full summer of cricket.”

The Derbyshire and Cheshire League confirmed that their fixtures will be uploaded onto PlayCricket on Sunday at the very latest and the season will start on Saturday, April 24 with league matches in Division One and Two, and Division Three sides in Hawke Trophy action.

Monday’s news is encouraging and gives clubs competing in the Greater Manchester League, the Derbyshire and Cheshire League, and the Cheshire County League some much-needed hope of a long, productive summer.

Stalybridge St Pauls have a lot to look forward to and will be represented in the Derbyshire and Cheshire League under their new name of Stalybridge Cricket Club. The club is currently on the lookout for new players and is urging anyone interested to get in touch.

The Tameside Sport and Physical Activity Network, headed up by Andy Dwyer and supported by Active Tameside, has recently affiliated Curzon Ashton’s Community Foundation and Priory Tennis Club into the network, which will provide both with guidance and help them to secure grants, while school sport will also return in pretty much full effect, with teachers given the flexibility to decide how physical education, sport and physical activity will be provided while following the measures in their system of controls.

Emma Toone, partnership development manager at the Tameside School Sports Partnership, welcomed the news and said: “We’ve been waiting for this moment and in my job I organise a lot of activities, festivals and competitions. We’ve not been able to do that as it used to be in terms of delivering an event and watching the pupils participate, and I’m not too sure it will come back yet. We need to ease ourselves into it and allow children to train and learn the skills.

“There has been a lot of emphasis on their fitness during lockdown with a lot of schools and we now think children might have lost some of the skills that they need to rebuild and reclaim, which I’m sure they will do.

“It’s been good during lockdown to review our competitions and see how they work and what needs to be supported. It’s been good to look at pupils who might not get that opportunity and how we can go about engaging them. Our virtual competitions have gone down well and we’ve worked with Priory Tennis Club in Stalybridge that was well received.”