NORMALLY there would be 6000 people travelling between the Tuffins Lane and Regional Stadium sporting precincts during the NSW State Cup.
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But we are not living in normal times.
That number will be significantly fewer in 2020 when 196 teams take to the fields. There will be no spectators.
The NSW Touch Football Association was granted an exemption on October 21 to hold this year's event due to public health regulations, but they could only set up four zones which can only house 500 people at any one time.
NSWTA general manager Dean Russell said despite those limitations, the final team numbers were only just inside what they could have housed anyway.
"The maximum number of teams we could have had with the way the event needs to set up regardless of the government advice yesterday (relating to eased COVID-19 restrictions) would have been 210 teams," he said.
"That's because we lose 13 hours of play across the three days from moving people on and off the venue."
Last year's event saw more than 230 teams compete, but Mr Russell said they were still pleased with the numbers.
"It's a different event this year and one of the key elements is the social aspect so we were concerned about the impact it would have especially with the senior divisions," he said.
"The specific reasons are the limitations that are in place and while they still want to come and play, having to play back-to-back games is a concern for some.
"But those who aren't coming this year have said they'll definitely be back next year."
Action starts from 8am today (December 4) with the open women and men's finals to take place at 3.30pm and 4pm respectively on Sunday (December 6).
The full draw can be found here.
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