Local tournaments suspended amid tightening measures against Covid-19
Several NSAs suspend already-modified competitions as groups can have a max of only 5 people from Saturday
Several team sports, which had already been hamstrung by the rule of eight, have had to cancel or postpone their already-modified tournaments and training sessions after the Government announced stricter Covid-19 measures on Tuesday.
From Saturday till May 30, the cap on group sizes will revert to five from eight, to minimise large Covid-19 cluster formation and reduce the risk of community transmission.
This has prompted a fresh round of disruptions for several national sports associations (NSAs).
The Singapore Swimming Association has postponed the Water Polo National League Open category until May 30 while the Basketball Association of Singapore (BAS) also announced the postponement of the BAS-Rigorer 3x3 National Championships.
Netball Singapore, meanwhile, postponed the modified 3v3 National League's matches for a week, with plans to "resume on May 10, subject to approval".
National age-group training sessions and selection trials have been cancelled.
In March, the NSA said the seven-a-side Netball Super League - which was last played in 2019 - was suspended indefinitely until the restriction on group sizes is loosened.
Netball Singapore's chief executive Cyrus Medora told The New Paper: "Of course, everyone is disappointed but we also understand the situation. It is evolving every week and we just have to adapt.
"We have postponed our national league and age-group trainings indefinitely. We all hope that the situation stabilises soon."
Like Netball Singapore, the Singapore Hockey Federation also had to get creative with tournament formats, with 11-a-side games no longer an option.
They managed to stage the Under-19 Hockey 3s League, which concluded in March, but their Hockey 4s started only on April 24.
SHF president Mathavan Devadas has not yet made a call on the four-a-side tournament, saying: "We usually wait for guidance from SportSG because we're not sure what their position is and we try to avoid abrupt changes... They informed that they will release their new guidelines today...
"If it doesn't come today, then we'll have to make a decision tomorrow, because we have to inform the affiliates to give them sufficient time...
"Once Phase 2 came into effect (previously), we had training... in groups of five.
"We just had no competitions because the 2v2 format didn't really work for us... Our lowest level is eight, we have no format which is devised for five."
Meanwhile, the Singapore Floorball Association's four-a-side Back2Floorball Modified League, which got underway in March, has also been suspended until May 30.
National floorballer Siti Nurhaliza Khairul Anuar said it was a difficult situation, but something that "we should all expect" due to the nature of the Covid-19 situation.
The 22-year-old was more worried about the national women's team's preparations for the World Floorball Championship in Uppsala, Sweden, which is pencilled in for Nov 27 to Dec 5.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the team have not played a full-format six-a-side game since 2019.
Said Siti: "We haven't really managed to try out our tactical play and stuff. It's quite difficult to see whether it works or not or what are the things we need to work on. Even with eight players, there's nothing much we can do."
The nation's only professional sports league, football's Singapore Premier League, will be allowed to continue but the move to admit up to 250 fans in stadiums has been rolled back and games will be played behind closed doors.
Mass participation events, like the May 29 OCBC Cycle Speedway Championships will be postponed until further notice while the National School Games, which kicked off in March, will be suspended.
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