The NZSSAA Executive have taken what we know will be a very

disappointing decision for all of the individual athletes and teams who have entered or intended entering for our Cross Country and Cross Country Relay Championships on September 19-20. We had hoped that community transmission of covid-19 might have stopped and that NZ would have been able to move into Alert Level 1 status by September 6.

Unfortunately, the announcement by the Prime Minister that NZ would be staying in Alert level 2 (and 2.5 for Auckland) until September 16 made it too uncertain a situation for us to proceed.

The last thing we would want would be to hold an event which could possibly help the spread of the virus and, knowing that the number of people attending would far exceed the Alert Level 2 limits no matter how effective our separation of groups around the course might be, cancellation became the only acceptable decision.

The Executive would like to thank everyone intending to come to Hawera for their support of our event. Your interest in taking part is very much appreciated. Particular thanks to the Taranaki based Local Organising Committee who have really worked hard to provide what would have been an outstanding event.

The Executive have decided that the 2021 Cross Country Championships will now be in Hawera on June 19-20. A memo will be sent to schools who have paid entry and affiliation fees regarding their reimbursement.