The Great Western Football Netball Club has made the agonising decision to cancel their annual Rodeo event for 2021 due to the challenges of making the event comply with COVID-safe regulations.
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Great Western Football and Netball Club president Tracey McCarthy said the club held an extraordinary meeting on Thursday night to discuss the possibility of cancelling the event.
"It is our major fundraiser and we have sat and done the COVID-plan for it and it is too hard," she said.
"Each year we get about 4,500 people there, so it runs our club for the year.
"It is a fairly difficult decision because it puts us in a precarious position in that, if we play football this season will be in a bit of bother.
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"The COVID rules for an event at that 'tier' is astronomical.
"For us to look after 4000 people, everyone has to be sanitised and temperature checked and staff need to be temperature checked every hour it's just so hard, I don't know how the tennis can do it."
In a statement on their Facebook page the club said the work, time and money needed make the event COVID-safe was too great.
"We feel the amount of work required to make the event a COVID-safe event, the numbers that will be able to attend and the risks involved, we feel that we have to cancel," the club said.
"It is not a decision that we have taken lightly as it is the clubs major fundraiser for the year."
The club will now look towards hosting smaller fundraising events to help fund the club for the 2021 season.
"So we will now be focusing on fundraising for the season and if anyone has any got some great ideas please put them forward."
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