FOOTBALL Wagga expects to have season draws finalised by the end of the week as the code prepares to become the first to return from the coronavirus hiatus.
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A draft draw was circulated to clubs on the weekend, with Football Wagga set to hold another Zoom meeting with club representatives on Wednesday night.
The men's first grade Pascoe Cup will feature a nine-team, 11-week regular season, followed by three weeks of finals.
The women's Leonard Cup make-up is still being finalised after a couple of teams requested they drop down to the second grade Madden Cup.
Junior soccer will become the first organised sport of any type in the Riverina to resume on July 4, with seniors to follow a week later.
"We've put the draft out and it's not formalised as yet, I'd say Thursday or Friday it should be out. There's not that many issues," Football Wagga president Tony Dobbin said.
"We're still dealing with the women's draw, a couple of team nominated have said they're short a few players, so we're giving clubs the opportunity to reassess."
Dobbin said their biggest task is ensuring clubs nail the coronavirus protocols on game day, especially when teams travel to other towns.
"Our biggest thing at the moment is how to approach game day, and the clubs. If say Junee turn up to play a side in Wagga, they have to make sure their players arrive at a certain time and comply with all the COVID rules.
"From our viewpoint we have to put signage up at the canteen, toilets, change rooms, and I know there'll be teething issues with that.
"Now that teams are training they've got some idea of what's going on. Personally I'm glad we've got a staggered start with the juniors starting first, so people can work it out."
Football Wagga at one stage was considering playing a number of teams involving Wagga sides out of town later in the season, but have found enough available grounds to avoid that situation.
Grand final day is on October 26, two weeks after a memorandum of understanding struck between Cricket NSW, NSW Rugby League, Football NSW, NSW Rugby Union and AFL NSW/ACT that football competitions conclude no later than October 11.
However Football Wagga traditionally allocates preliminary final weekend to a non-Wagga club before playing grand finals at Equex Centre, which isn't required for use by summer sports.
"We were confident we had access to grounds pretty much everywhere that we have teams," Dobbin said.
"We use one field at McDonald's Park to play our grand finals, and the weekend before that is always out of town."
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