How floods are impacting sport on the Gold Coast, all the sports field closures

The Gold Coast football season has been pushed back another week while one club president has urged for officials to delay its start until April. See how the floods have impacted sport and all the field closures here.

Gold Coast sports participants face a period of uncertainty as the floods threaten to derail seasons currently in progress and delay the start of others.

Over 80 Gold Coast City Council fields are currently closed due to water damage sustained during the floods that have gripped South East Queensland.

Gold Coast senior and junior cricket seasons are on the cusp of finals while the start of Football Queensland’s FQPL3 competition has already been postponed.

As sports clubs and governing bodies begin cleaning up, officials have begun to map out a plan for when they will return to the field.

A council spokesperson said groundskeepers and horticulturalists would be used to determine an appropriate return date.

“After heavy rain and inundation, the City has a duty of care to ensure the safety of players and minimise further damage to fields,” the spokesperson said.

“A range of conditions are assessed to ensure any hazard is minimised and turf is resilient to play.

“The City recognises the importance of community sport and we currently have our greenskeepers and horticulturalists determining the suitability and timing of reopening sports fields for training and competition. The sport field closures web page will be updated daily to reflect the status updates of sports parks across the city.”

Here are how multiple codes are placed following the floods:

FOOTBALL

THE Gold Coast football season has been pushed back another week while one club president has urged for officials to delay its start until April.

Football Queensland has told clubs the men’s QPL3, QPL4, metro divisions and women’s QPL4 and metro leagues that their fixtures that were slated to be played between March 11 and 16 will be rescheduled for later in the season.

Gold Coast City Council’s fields still remain closed.

Gold Coast Knights president Adrian Puljich called on Football Queensland not to rush back to the field.

“It would be good to see the season kick back off next month for player welfare and safety, injury mitigation and prevention,” Puljich said.

“I’d hate to see the competition begin because teams literally haven’t been able to get out on the park and play practice matches for the last three or four weeks.”

The Knights have been one of dozens of sports clubs affected by the recent floods.

“The clean up process has begun,” he said.

“The main clubhouse is high and dry but all of our machinery, bags, balls, bigs and all our infrastructure that runs our football is pretty much gone.

“We are behind the eight-ball and trying to scramble to find alternate venues for training while the pitches recover.

“The field is ok. We have had serious issues with the creek at the back of our fields and the lack of Gold Coast City Council management of that area.

“The creek doesn’t flow and it is an ongoing issue we have had with council. We have spoken to them about it a lot over the last couple of years.

“When it floods it lifts the debris out of the creek and then it struggles to recede because it isn’t being managed.”

Division 8 Councillor Bob La-Castra said investigations would be done to determine if flood mitigation measures can be put in place.

“I am aware that the City schedules maintenance on the creek as required,” he said.

“However the recent unprecedented weather events have caused flooding to occur in many low laying areas, including our sporting fields.

“City crews are currently providing maintenance to many areas of the city and will investigate the feasibility of any flood mitigation measure for affected areas.”

EARLIER FOOTBALL:

Football Queensland has already moved to postpone the start of the men’s and women’s FQPL3 by a week.

There are concerns that could be further delayed with officials instructing clubs fields that have been inundated with water will likely need soil testing to ensure they are safe to play on.

Football Queenslad’s South East Queensland general manager Damien Bresic said officials would review the situation later this week and decide if competitions would go ahead on March 11.

“The other issue we have got is, even when the water recedes, it will be a case of how quickly the fields can be mowed and lines marked.

“We have been on the phone to most clubs to get an indication of how they have been impacted and thankfully most around the Gold Coast haven’t fared too badly.

“Murwillumbah was 2m under, with the kitchen, storage room and change rooms all under water. Bilambil was also hit fairly badly. A lot of other grounds went under but as far as the loss of property and other things, it isn’t too bad.

“We also have to consider the health and wellbeing of the players. If they sit on their bums for two weeks should we really put them into a competitive game with one training run, at best, under their belts?”

Palm Beach had flooding through the clubhouse while Gold Coast Knights, Ormeau and Merrimac had flooding through its change rooms while for many others it was just the fields that went under.

Bresic said 90 per cent of the fields Gold Coast teams played on were cared for by Gold Coast City Council and believed the only significant cost could come through damage to club clothing and other property.

He confirmed Football Australia covered players on field but it was up to individual clubs to get insurance to cover building and contents.

CRICKET

The Gold Coast District Cricket Association’s need to have its Cheltenham Drive facility in Robina upgraded has been highlights on the back of the floods.

The Association, home of the Dolphins, has been in talks with Gold Coast City Council about adding in a facility upgrade to the precinct to the city’s master plan.

At the heart of the proposed upgrade is future proofing for flooding, with the ground routinely hit hard when poor weather rolls around.

“Our Cheltenham ground was a lake (on Monday),” Dolphins president Adam Daniels said.

“The whole ground was completely under and it went through the groundsmen’s shed that had all the mowers and rollers.

“Both ourselves and Cricket Gold Coast have been looking at a master plan that can future proof it from flooding. It is in its infancy but it is a ground that is certainly impacted a lot by weather.

“It is about developing it as a facility for our junior and representative programs. Those discussions started a couple of months ago.”

The club’s Bill Pippen Oval, also located at Robina, hasn’t been impacted by the floods, with a team from Papua New Guinea in the third week of a training camp at the venue.

All men’s and women’s premier grade fixtures have been cancelled for this weekend and pushed back a week.

The Cheltenham field is the home of Cricket Gold Coast’s brand new roller, valued at $35,000, which was been inundated by water.

Cricket Gold Coast president Ryan Kettle said officials were unsure whether it would be covered by insurance at this stage.

Kettle also confirmed all junior and senior fixtures slated for this weekend have been cancelled.

“We had a board meeting (on Tuesday night) and discussed it at length,” Kettle said.

“We haven’t had any clubs give us feedback at this stage. We already know of a few grounds that were no chance of getting up for this weekend.

“There are more important things than local sport on the Gold Coast, Norther NSW Rivers and Brisbane right now.

“We encourage everyone to get out there and help their mates, see what you can do to clean up someone’s house or cricket club.”

Kettle said Logan Village was the worst hit club in Cricket Gold Coast’s district and believed its fields remained under water.

The Over 40s an 50s grand finals, originally scheduled for this weekend, will be moved back a week to March 13.

The grand finals will overlap with the final regular season round for first and second grade clubs who will play on both March 12 and 13.

Some players represent clubs in both Over 40s and grade cricket, meaning they could play grade cricket on Saturday and Over 40s cricket on the Sunday.

“We are aware of the crossover with players and if they happen to play grade cricket on Saturday and Over 40s on the Saturday we will allow a replacement to come into the grade cricket team to fill that gap,” Kettle said.

The juniors and third to sixth grade senior teams were due to have their last regular round this weekend but it will be a wash out.

The ladder is yet to be updated to take into account bye weekends. Kettle said ladders were expected to be finalised by the end of Wednesday.

SURF LIFE SAVING

The 2022 Queensland Senior/Masters Surf Life Saving Championships have been cancelled due to concerns surrounding safety.

The competition was scheduled to take place from Friday to Sunday this week at Alexandra Headland and Mooloolaba but has been canned just days after the Youth State Titles was cancelled.

“The decision was made by SLSQ’s Carnival Committee earlier this morning after careful consideration,” a statement from Surf Life Saving Queensland read.

“The Sunshine Coast’s current beach conditions, including water quality and clarity and debris in the ocean make competition impractical and unsafe. The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecast for the rest of the week also indicate unfavourable conditions.

“The Carnival Committee exhausted all options in rescheduling the championships at a later date but due to pre-existing large-scale events on the Sunshine Coast, it was not feasible to reschedule prior to April’s Australian Championships on the Gold Coast.”

Surf Life Saving Queensland CEO Dave Whimpey expressed his thanks to the organising committee for their tireless efforts during this trying time.

“I share in everyone’s disappointment that our 2022 State Championships will not go ahead but I believe the right decision has been made as competitors’ safety always comes first” he said.

“I thank all officials, sponsors, partners, clubs, competitors and their families for their support of the 2022 State Championships.”

BASKETBALL

Gold Coast Basketball Association general manager Joel McInnes confirmed games were cancelled at the Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre on Monday but would start again on Tuesday.

“We didn’t have any damage. We are pretty high up at Carrara,” McInnes said.

“The surrounding area was flooded and was as high as I have ever seen it on the entry roads but we were OK. We only cancelled games on Monday because some people may not have been able to access the courts depending on where they lived.”

North Gold Coast Seahawks general manager Dwayne Vale said their association had also been left unscathed.

“We called off our competition on Sunday but that was out of precaution,” he said.

“Other than that we are all fine.”

AUSTRALIAN RULES

AFL-CIO Queensland junior and senior competitions are not due to start until April, with only practice games organised between clubs under threat at this stage.

“The 2022 AFL Queensland junior and senior community football season in Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales hasn’t yet commenced,” Trisha Squires, Head of AFL Queensland, said.

“At the moment, many football grounds across Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales are closed due to the severe weather event.

“Our thoughts are with all footy clubs and communities in Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales who are impacted by the flooding disaster that’s still unfolding.

“We acknowledge this unfolding event has been devastating for some football clubs and communities in Southeast Queensland and Northern New South Wales and appreciate the full impact won’t be known for days, if not weeks, yet.”

GOLD COAST CITY COUNCIL PARKS CURRENTLY CLOSED:

Alan Nielsen Park

Albert Park

Arthur Angove Park

Ashmore Community Park

Ashmore Village Park

Betty Diamond Sports Complex

Birmingham Sports Fields

Brien Harris Park

Broadbeach State School

Brockman Park

Canowindra Park

Cheltenham Park

Cooke Murphy Oval

Coomera Sports Park

Coplick Family Sports Park

Cos Zantiotis Park Under renovation

Currumbin Hills Park

D’Arcy Doyle Park

Davenport Park

David Arbon Park

Dux Oval

Elanora Oval

Elanora State High School

Firth Park

Flooded Gum Park

Frank Chaston Sporting Field

Gainsborough Parklands

Gambamora Park

Glennon Park

Golden Wheel Park

Goodwin Park

Helensvale Rugby Park

Hession Park

James Overell Park

John Handley Community Complex

Keith Hunt ParkUnder renovation

Kerrydale Park

Kleinschmidt Family Sports Park

Kombumerri Park

Len Peak Park

Lex Bell Park

Mallawa Sports Complex renovation

Merv Craig Recreation Park

Musgrave Sports ParCk

Ned Twohill Equestrian Park

Nikiforides Family Park

Norfolk Park

Ormeau Sports Park

Ormeau Woods State High School

Owen Park Under renovation

Oxenford ParkCC

Pacific Pines Central Park

Paul Scanlan Oval

Pimpama Island Recreational Reserve

Pimpama River Parklands

Pincally Crescent Park

Pizzey Park

Riesenweber Park

Robert Dalley Park

Robina Common

Robina Station Reserve

Roma ParkUnder renovation

Ron Short Park

Runaway Bay Sports Precinct East

Runaway Bay Sports Precinct West

Salk Oval Parklands

Schuster Park

Scottsdale Parklands

Sid Bigg Park

Sid Bigg Park No 2

Sir Bruce Small Park

Terry and Carol Moore Park

Upper Coomera State College

Varsity Central Park

Varsity College School Oval

Viney Park

Wajin Park

Woodlands Park (formerly known as Somerset Park)

Yaun Creek Park

Zipfs Park