Canberra Nationals guard Abby Cubillo has backed Basketball ACT's decision to withdraw its teams from the Waratah League, saying it's the best way forward amid escalating coronavirus concerns.
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Basketball ACT announced on Monday the Nationals and Canberra Gunners would not see out the 2020 season, deeming the risk of ongoing travel to the Sydney region too high.
New South Wales has seen an uptick in community transmission of coronavirus in recent weeks, with the majority of those cases recorded in greater Sydney.
Basketball ACT boss David Simpson said Waratah League officials could not assure the safety of players and officials, leading to the decision to withdraw.
There was also a number of players who would have had to self-isolate for 14 days on their return to Canberra under ACT Health advice for high-risk workers.
"We had concerns around COVID-19 and were unable to get a degree of assurance over the safety of our players," Simpson said.
"With the ongoing travel to and from Sydney, including through hot-spot areas, we deemed the risk too high and made the unfortunate decision to withdraw our teams.
"We also would have had to leave behind a significant portion of our team because if they entered those areas, they would have had to isolate themselves afterwards due to their employment. It was almost unfeasible to take those teams up."
The Canberra-based teams were scheduled to compete in Newcastle and the Central Coast last weekend, but those round-five matches were cancelled.
They would have then hosted a series of matches at Belconnen Basketball Stadium, before rounding out the season in Sydney.
Nationals and Gunners players had an input in Basketball ACT's decision, Cubillo saying they were concerned about protecting the health of the Canberra community as well as their own.
The withdrawal means Cubillo and Canberra Capitals teammate Shakera Reilly have no competitive matches until the WNBL pre-season starts, unless they join a local premier league team.
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The 21-year-old guard is torn between finding a team and embracing the basketball break, with university studies the main priority right now.
"It feels kind of strange because over last couple of years I've been going from season to season, back and forth. I've never had a period where I'm not playing nor know when my next game is going to be," Cubillo said.
"I'm thinking about [joining a premier league team] but I'm working quite a bit and trying to balance that with university, those are my top priorities right now.
"I'm still training with the Canberra-based Capitals girls but I haven't made a decision on premier league... I have the feeling that I might feel like I'm missing out on something though."
Basketball ACT has also withdrawn the under-14's representative team from the NSW Country Challenge, which scheduled to start on August 21.
The peak basketball body in Canberra is yet to make a decision on the under-16's tournament and will assess their plans over the coming weeks.
Lucie Bertoldo
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
Lucie Bertoldo is a sports reporter for the Canberra Times.
