Wet weather halts matches in Coffs Harbour as fields remain soaked

Sport fixtures were postponed again this weekend leaving many teams wondering when they’ll play next. Is enough being done to get our fields up back into gear?

Another week- another round unplayed.

For sports players across Coffs Harbour, who have been limited to just one game in four weeks due to wet weather – they are desperately seeking a solution.

Players and club members are pitching in as they attempt to quickly restore fields to a playable condition.

The synthetic field at the C.ex Stadium has provided an alternative to combat the wet weather.

Peter Spinks, President of the Orara Valley Axemen said midweek games are being resorted to, however many of these games are now being called off too.

Kristen Firth doing her bit to ensure the Orora fields are in a playable condition. Excessive rain has caused the fields to become sponges. .

“Playing one game a month is bad for morale,” Mr Spinks said.

Synthetic simply isn’t an option for rugby or any sport that requires tackling.

“There’s also a big cost involved. Every time we use them we have to hire it by the hour and pay for lights,” Mr Spinks said.

“It's not sustainable long term,” he said.

Another solution is to extend the sporting season – in the hope wet weather subsides.

Mr Spinks said made-up games will need to be played on holiday weekends.

He said maintaining the Coramba Sports Ground has been impossible due to the sheer volume of water on the pitches.

“We’ve had two floods over it just this year. There’s a layer of silt across the top which means the ground can’t air out,” he said.

The club spends a lot of time, money and resources on trying to repair the damage.

“Now it’s rained again and it’s just sodden,” Mr Spinks said.

First grade Axeman player Alex Bunt doing his part to mow the field after wet weather has destroyed the fields.

Mr Spinks said the fields also suffered in recent years during dry spells – becoming “like concrete”.

“In the past decade, fields have been too hard,” Mr Spinks said.

The fields are evidently not equipped for the extreme climates we’re facing now, and Mr Spinks said there is a general lack of funding toward the groundskeepers to keep it in playable shape.

“In reality, that group are looking after the ground on behalf of the council,” he said.

He said the fields pose a serious injury threat, either being too hard and dry or soft and wet.

“We get a lot of leg and calf injuries with the wet fields.”

Head Coach of Northern Storm Football Club Craig Caruana said his CPL team are struggling to find momentum.

“I’ve lost count of how many game’s we’ve postponed,” Mr Caruana said.

He – like many frustrated players and coaches – said there aren’t enough fields in Coffs Harbour.

He said one of the issues is that most of the sporting fields within Coffs Harbour are shared across codes, being overplayed on.

Orara Valley Axemen ladies league tag coach Loretta Donovan and Alex are pitching in to try and restore the field to a playable state.

“There’s never time to do maintenance on them. There aren’t enough sporting facilities,” Mr Caruana said.

He said with the current condition of the fields, any slight bit of rain and the fields become “unplayable”.

Mr Caruana said the infrastructure could do with significant funding.

“Our fields have no irrigation at all. We would love to see water tanks installed to catch water for sprinklers,” he said.

The wet weather follows last year’s frustrations, aslockdowns resulted in a premature end to the season.

Member for Coffs Harbour Gurmesh Singh said fields have improved their drainage over the years.

“It’s just been so wet,” Mr Singh said.

Mr Singh said more lights installed around fields may assist, allowing games to be played at different times.

“I’m not sure if it’s an issue of funding. Installing more lights around fields would allow more sport to be played in the evening,” he said.

One thing is clear as mud: players, coaches and politicians simply just want to be out on the grass playing sport again.