There hasn’t been a sport across the globe that has avoided the wrath of Covid-19.
From hockey to hurling and much more, sporting events have been cancelled and continue to fall foul of this worldwide pandemic.
However, local sports outside of the elite level seem to have been impacted more than most.
A ball hasn’t been kicked in either the Kilkenny or Carlow District League since October.
Talk of vaccines and a quell in case numbers raised hopes across both counties that the current season, one that barely got off its feet, may come to some form of a palatable conclusion for all parties involved.
That will not be the case in Carlow, however. Speaking to KCLR’s Saturday Scoreline, the Carlow District League Fixtures Secretary Bryan O’Reilly admitted that it is too big a task to resume the season in any capacity at this point.
“We’re very much up in the air as to when we’ll be back. We don’t really know yet. It’s just dragged on and we don’t think we’ll be able to finish the season.
“This season is a write off which is incredibly disappointing because all the hard work done to make sure that everything was in place to play was all in vain,” revealed O’Reilly.
He elaborated on his reasoning behind the decision taken by the league.
He explained: “We’re looking at May until adults are back in training. Then, they would need three weeks minimum to get back into the flow of things.
“It would then be June until they got back so we can’t move forward with this season. It’s not feasible.”
O’Reilly, who also acts as the Honorary Secretary of the league, explained how they are moving forward with plans for each age group.
He said: “We just want to try and finish the over 35 league and cup. That has been a great success. From a junior and youths’ perspective, we’re fully concentrated on the 2021/22 season that we will be hoping to begin in August.”
O’Reilly remains hopeful that there will be a surge in interest once soccer returns in the county but is unsure as to the wider ramifications of the pandemic on sport.
“We’d like to think that numbers might increase but until we come back, we won’t know what the knock-on effect of Covid is for soccer and sport in general.”
Listen back to the interview below.
