Hard for netball to relocate

By ROBINSON LEKA
NETBALL Papua New Guinea says it is unwilling to hold any of its activities at Port Moresby’s Sir John Guise Stadium Indoor Complex for the remainder of the year.
Since the Rita Flynn Indoor Complex – home of Netball PNG – was being used as a Covid-19 isolation centre, the PNG Sports Foundation had suggested that the governing body relocate its activities to Sir John Guise Stadium.
But Netball PNG executive Iammo Launa told The National that the relocation was “impossible”.
“The suggestion is impossible for us because the Sir John Guise Stadium Indoor Complex does not have the capacity to host any netball event on that one court,” she said.
“Many people play netball and the indoor complex does not have enough courts.
“Even after the state of emergency (SOE) is lifted, Rita Flynn won’t be ready because the outdoor courts were dug up to establish the isolation centre.
“When that isolation centre closes after the SOE, there’s going to be some renovation on the courts.
“We don’t know when the venue management will start resurfacing the courts that were dug up and I don’t think it will be ready any time soon.
“This was a major reason the Port Moresby Netball Association cancelled this year’s competition.”
Launa suggested that the isolation centre should have been located at the Taurama Aquatic Centre since it had bigger indoor space compared with Rita Flynn.
She claimed that setting up mobile clinics and emergency posts on Rita Flynn’s outdoor courts was unsafe with houses and schools nearby.