Disabled Surfing Association Ocean Grove has cancelled next year’s events due to COVID-19.
The committee made the announcement with the health and safety of its participants and volunteers at front of mind.
The annual event, that allows people of all abilities to ride a wave, was scheduled to be held in February and March.
“The single factor that has led to this decision is of course the ongoing uncertainty of the coronavirus situation,” the committee said in a statement.
“With the large total numbers at our events, shared public facilities and the complex nature of our surfing and additional risk factors for our surfers we simply must prioritise the health of our participants and community.
“As well as this, of course, we do not want to waver from our absolute commitment to being fully inclusive of anyone who wishes to participate or volunteer with DSAOG by selecting those who could or couldn’t attend. We have explored many options but have concluded that it will just not be possible to run our events safely for all members of our community this season.”
DSA Ocean Grove has a relatively small volunteer committee with limited resources.
“While this is incredibly disappointing for everyone involved, this decision is also in line with decisions many other committees have made around large events in our local area,” the statement said.
“With the large number of people at our events, the movement of people within our events and the close contact we have with one another including participants, many of whom will be particularly vulnerable in relation to their health, we just cannot see a way that we can run a COVIDSafe event this season.
“Whilst we know this decision will be disheartening and disappointing for many, just as it is for our dedicated committee, we do thank you for your understanding and we look forward to returning bigger and better in summer 2021-22.”
