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Danielle Warby

Content Strategist | Advocate for Women in Sport

When is women’s sport coming back?

July 16, 2020 By Danielle Warby Leave a Comment

Women’s sport is returning to Australia! Rugby league starts in July, netball in August, basketball in November, and your summer of cricket will start in September. Rugby union are working on a plan and football is also expected to return in October.

Women’s leagues around the world are also returning, the NWSL in the United States will be the first professional American sport to return.

[Updated 24 June 2020]

Netball: Super Netball

  • Season start: Saturday 1 August 2020
  • Season length: Full season of 60 games
  • Fixtures: TBC

“Our guiding principles throughout this process have never changed, those being the health and wellbeing of the community alongside the financial viability of our sport.” – Chris Symington,  Super Netball CEO 

Visit the Super Netball website for 2020 season updates.

Basketball: WNBL

  • Season start: Friday 20 November 2020
  • Season length: 21 regular-season games per team plus finals series
  • Fixtures: TBC

“To enable the league and clubs to operate their businesses accordingly and to give fans and broadcasters clarity over the new season, we are prepared to start the 2020-21 Chemist Warehouse WNBL season without fans should current COVID-19 restrictions on mass gatherings remain in place.

“Should restrictions ease over the coming months, we will adapt accordingly with the view to our passionate members and fans being able to attend games when it’s safe and viable to do so.” – Lauren Jackson, Basketball Australia Head of Women in Basketball

Visit the WNBL website for 2020-21 season updates.

Cricket: Internationals

Cricket Australia has announced a full international summer schedule for 2020-21

Women’s T20 Series v New Zealand

  • First T20: Sunday 27 September 2020, North Sydney Oval
  • Second T20: Tuesday 29 September 2020, North Sydney Oval
  • Third T20: Thursday 1 October 2020, North Sydney Oval

Women’s ODI Series v New Zealand

  • First ODI: Monday 5 October 2020, Riverway Stadium, Townsville
  • Second ODI: Wednesday 7 October 2020, Cazaly’s Stadium, Cairns
  • Third ODI: Saturday 10 October 2020, Metricon Stadium, Gold Coast

Women’s ODI Series v India

  • First ODI: Friday 22 January 2021, Manuka Oval, Canberra
  • Second ODI: Monday 25 January 2021, Junction Oval, Melbourne
  • Third ODI: Thursday 28 January 2021, Blundstone Arena, Hobart

Rugby union: Super W | Uni 7s | Internationals

“There’s quite a lot to work through to make sure women’s rugby, and the progress we’ve made in particular over the past five years, can continue” – Jilly Collins, General Manager of Women’s Rugby.

The Aussie 7s squad is back to training. Many of the national XVs players should be getting back to club rugby next month and there’s a slim possibility for a Wallaroos call-up before the end of the year.

Rugby Australia is undertaking a review this month with players, coaches and stakeholders involved in the women’s game, and having discussions around what a schedule would need to look like over the coming 12 to 15 months.

Women’s Rugby Looks to a Post-Covid Plan – Jill Scanlon for Siren

Super W

The Super W finals, scheduled for March and then postponed until May, have been cancelled.

Uni 7s

This year’s four-leg Uni 7s Series has been cancelled in its planned format, with the review to look at state-based options and potential alternative formats that could replace it between October and December.

Internationals

The Sevens World Series has been put on hold with hopes it can resume in October in Hong Kong.

This year’s Wallaroos Tests, two against New Zealand and one against Canada, are likely to be cancelled.

Rugby league: NRLW

The @NSWRL Harvey Norman Women's Premiership gets underway this weekend ? pic.twitter.com/cMGE72Ssiy

— Women's Rugby League (@WRugbyLeague) July 16, 2020

Not expendable: NRL’s strong message on women’s sport by Mary Konstantopoulos

Rugby league: State of Origin

A stand-alone Women’s State of Origin match is planned for Friday 13 November 2020.

Visit the NRL women’s website for more information.

Cricket: WBBL

Melbourne Stars general manager Nick Cummins we can expect to have a “better understanding” of what the next WBBL season would look like in the coming months.

Cricket Australia had been considering reducing the season length as part of cost-cutting measures but that now appears unlikely.

Football: W-League

“FFA’s intent remains for the W-League 2020-21 season to return in and around its usual season window (October),” an FFA spokesperson said on 6 June.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has impacted our competition design planning and finalisation timelines for the 2020-21 season and we are not in a position to confirm any further details at the moment. However, we absolutely remain committed to continuing to professionalise, grow and showcase the women’s game in Australia and the W-League remains a key element in that commitment.”

On the 29th June, the ABC reported the W-League will start the 2020/21 season in December and finish in July. Which sounds less like fact and more like a journalist lumping it in with the A-League. The W-League runs for 3 months, not 6.

So, we don’t know for sure. There hasn’t been an on the W-League website since March.

Aussie rules: AFLW

The 2021 season should commence in February, with a nine-week home and away season, before a three-week finals series.

Source: AFL.

Ice hockey: AWIHL

The AWIHL hopes to return in October as usual.

Can confirm that since our season doesn't usually start until the beginning of summer, we are hoping to have as close to a normal season as we can.

This is of course depending on many factors like social distancing, travel restrictions, rinks re-opening etc. https://t.co/2EQr4nSErb

— AWIHL (@AWIHL) June 6, 2020

International women’s sport

Football

Of the seven major women’s leagues in Europe, just three — Sweden, Norway and Germany — have returned or will return to action, while competitions in England, Spain, France and Italy have been cancelled altogether. Via Samantha Lewis for the ABC.

In the United States, the NWSL Challenge Cup will kick off on Saturday 26 June 2020 in a 25-game tournament. Fans outside the U.S. and Canada can stream the full tournament on Twitch. Via the NWSL.

Basketball

The WNBA plans to tip off the 2020 season in July.


This article is a part of the Siren: Women in Sport Collective. To support women in sports media, please subscribe to the Siren newsletter. To download the Siren women’s sport calendar app, become a paid supporter.

[Related: How much do Australian sports women get paid?]

Filed Under: Women In Sport Tagged With: covid-19

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