Harlequins hangs tight as rugby season put on hold
Harlequins Sports Club chairperson Leeza Hoffman shared on the unforeseen challenges met by the local sports federation.
WITH no rugby, no pool league, a pause on all other sport sections and no certainty of a way forward, Harlequins Sports Club chairperson Leeza Hoffman shared on the unforeseen challenges met by the local sports federation.
“Although we couldn’t have sport at the club last year, we did however opens our own flea market in November and it did very well with over 150 stalls and growing but then in December we had to close the market due to it being an outdoor event,” she said adding that this was an effort towards alleviating the financial stress on the club.
“Covid-19 has affected the club badly as we receive no income during lockdown and when we could open for the short period last year when restrictions were eased, we barely made ends meet as our sports and our flea market had to remain closed. We also had to cancel a lot of functions and events. The ban on liquor sales has also been hard we have a pub on site. Currently there is no income and club members also haven’t been able to pay their subs. With no funds coming in we also haven’t been able to fix our tractor and pay salaries in order to cut the grass on our fields and maintain the 18-hole golf course.”
Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighting and kick-boxing classes are still active but only with a limited number of members due to Covid-19 regulations. “The club will re-open when we move to level one or two and depending on the regulations. At this point KZN Rugby Union has given the directives that club rugby is on hold till June/July and will only be revised then.
“In terms of our plans for the year, things are uncertain at the moment but I do have some new sports sections that have approached me to join our club which is quite exiting. We have also had a few projects during the lockdown, such as fixing the swimming pool area. We are in need of assistance with cement, gutters as well as wall and stoep paint. Harlequins Sports club will continue to try develop sports in the community and helping to develop our children in their skills with sports,” said Hoffman.
