There will be no team sorting in the region this year, after Southern NSW Team Sorting announced the cancellation of all remaining events.
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Team sorting competitions in Yass, Gunning, Boorowa, Crookwell, Young, and Grenfell were all cancelled earlier in the year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and after the AGM was held in August, the committee decided to call off the finals as well, which were scheduled for November.
"Due to Covid 19 we are unable to run the Team Sorting Finals this year," a statement on the association's website said.
"We are going to have to cancel the whole year due to the virus."
The committee was left little choice but to cancel all remaining competitions following updated recommendations from the state government last month. These stated that inter-regional competitions should not go ahead to minimise the risk of COVID-19 transmission.
While the events have been cancelled, the committee confirmed it would roll memberships over to the 2021 season, while the points would be reset to zero.
The cancelled events will likely prove a significant loss to a number of local economies, as each of the team sorting competitions have been well-attended in years gone past.
For instance, the Crookwell event which was held last November drew 226 teams in total from across the region. Competitors from Braidwood and even as far as Albion Park attended the competition, which ran for two days.
Committee co-chairperson, Andrew Stanton, said calling off the remaining competitions for the year was difficult but ultimately the right call.
"The committee hated making this decision because it means we haven't got our sport for a while," Stanton said.
"It's got to be done, but now the weather's getting better and everyone's getting back on horses, normally we'd be ramping up and we'd be getting back into the swing."
However, perspective is key and Stanton recognised that the problems faced by the association are "pretty small compared to a lot of people."
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