Roadmap out of lockdown promises better times for Rotherham sport

Grassroots sports including Sunday League football, tennis and golf will resume on March 29 at the earliest in Step 2 of the Government's roadmap out of lockdown announced yesterday.

Organised outdoor sport will be permitted for adults and children, including outdoor swimming pools.

However tighter restrictions will remain in place for contact sports such as rugby, which will be allowed to reintroduce tackling but without scrums. 

Also as part of the second step for easing restrictions, children will be allowed to resume all indoor sports no earlier than April 12.

Restrictions on organised adult indoor sports, such as five-a-side football, will remain in place a little longer due to the higher risk of Covid transmission. Those activities are included in Step 3, due to come into place no sooner than May 17.

The lockdown has already had a big impact on local winter grassroots sport, with some regional football leagues grappling with a backlog of fixtures, but the chances of meaningful competition re-starting in the autumn are now much higher.

In the meantime the Football Association has extended the 2020/21 grassroots season to the end of June "in order to provide additional flexibility and time for leagues to complete their fixtures this season if they wish to".

The roadmap should also mean a fuller summer of action for Rotherham's cricket clubs after last year's shortened campaign.