Nimbin's big wet hits hard

THESE are the kids that have been robbed by the big wet this winter.

Nimbin Headers under 9’s soccer players Mali Drenkovki with team-mates JJ Lachner, Eli Boomsmar, Xian Parker, Arky Ryall, Sam Davey, Journey Nadayford, Sylvan Tallow and Katori Hout.

THESE are the kids that have been robbed by the big wet this winter.

Nimbin Headers under-9s have played just two games and none on their home ground because of its poor drainage.

Each of the players have paid their $95 each in registration fees and have been in training since February but because Headers’ field lies in the low point of Nimbin near a creek bed, when it rains you can almost bet the field will end up under water.

Headers secretary Simone Rutley believes this lack of game time has damaged the club’s morale and financial standing.

“These little guys want people to look up to and they can’t because they can’t watch the seniors at our club play on our oval,” she said.

“Not having our ground open on Saturdays means we lose canteen money and the players lose their fitness and sense of camaraderie.”

Rutley has been bombarded by requests from parents to have their kids play on the ground despite the rain, but believes this is not possible.

“People can do ankle injuries because of the size of some of the potholes,” she said.

While the drainage at the ground could be improved if Lismore City Council was allowed to take over its ownership, the club is too proud to give up its oval

“It may be unpopular if that happens,” Rutley said.

“There’s a strong family link to this ground.

"A lot of Nimbin players get sledged everywhere they go because of where they come from but our oval brings the town together.”

Rutley said the Headers are chasing funding for drainage through the Department of Sport and Recreation, Summerland Credit Union and Football Federation Australia.

Lismore City Council parks co-ordinator Martin Soutar says the last three years have been up there with the wettest he has seen which have led to constant closures of fields.

“It won’t get any better over the next couple of months either,” he said.

“When we close grounds it’s both to protect the player and preserve the field.”

Football Far North Coast general manager Steve Mackney expressed his sympathy for young soccer players who miss game time because of the wet weather.

“They wait all summer to put on their boots and I feel sorry for them because their games don’t get re-scheduled,” he said.

“A club like Nimbin can’t do anything about it because their field is completely sodden.

“A solution for Nimbin maybe could be to share a ground with another club.”

Originally published as Nimbin's big wet hits hard