Weekend sport cancelled as sports grounds waterlogged

From King George Oval in Rozelle to Woollahra Oval in Rose Bay and Beauchamp Park in Chatswood, waterlogged sports grounds across Sydney have been closed by local councils, forcing the cancellation of thousands of games of soccer, Australian rules football, rugby league, rugby union, and netball.

SportNSW chairman Chris Hall said there would be a lot of pent-up energy in his home after his kids’ soccer games were cancelled because of the closure of sports grounds in Rozelle.

Cohen Park soccer training went ahead despite the weather.Credit: Flavio Brancaleone

“Through the rainy week we have had there were a lot more balls kicked up and down the home hallway than usual,” he said.

Woollahra Council has closed all of its sports grounds except the Andrew Petrie Oval synthetic rugby field in Rose Bay, while Willoughby City Council has closed all its natural turf grounds for sporting activities.

Other councils such as the City of Sydney, Canada Bay, Canterbury Bankstown, Inner West, Northern Beaches, Randwick and Ryde have closed sports grounds this weekend. In contrast, all grounds in The Hills Shire are “open at the hirer’s discretion”, according to the council’s website.

Sydney Junior Rugby Union general manager Ben Gregory said some councils are a “bit quick on the trigger” to close grounds.

“In early April we saw heaps of councils close the grounds for the entire weekend – and then Sunday turned out to be a perfect day,” he said. “This time we have the majority of councils doing weekend inspections to give the clubs the most chance to get on the fields.”

The pressure on sporting facilities, attitudes to risk and insurance also played a factor in deciding whether to call off games, Gregory said.

“Most young kids now wouldn’t get to experience the joys of playing rugby in the mud,” he said. “I am not sure kids lose interest, but parents may look at the cost of registration etc and worry about the value for money.”

Bad weather has also caused havoc for netballers, with the Inner West Netball Association forced to cancel 183 games in its opening round last month.

The association’s secretary Anne Tait said more games had been cancelled since then because grass courts had been closed by the local council, “which means all our five-to-nine year olds miss out on playing”.

“Whilst most of our courts are asphalt we still have to be careful when it rains as they can become slippery and player and umpire safety is paramount,” she said.

Tait said cancelling games due to bad weather played havoc with the competition and disappointed kids “because they just want to play”.

“In addition, whilst we try to maintain relatively reasonable fees, parents are more mindful of the cost impact of paying seasonal fees and then not getting value for money,” she said.

Tait said not everyone was understanding when volunteer officials made the tough decision to call off games: “Councils are more prone to close grass courts than they were in the past, which is understandable due to maintenance costs.”

A Football NSW spokesman said councils closed sports fields with a view to looking after grounds for the whole season.

“We simply cannot afford to shred the grounds in April and expect to have playable surfaces in August,” he said.

But the pressure on sports fields meant it was difficult to reschedule matches on weekends.

“Mid-week games are hard to manage because there aren’t enough lit grounds to be able to catch up every game mid-week, and when you do have mid-week games it means other teams can’t train,” he said.

He said half of all football grounds did not have drainage, while climate change put pressure on facilities because of the increased likelihood of hot, dry weather and severe storms.

“This is why synthetic fields are part of the solution,” he said. “These fields can accommodate some games when grass fields wash out, but also allow games to be caught up through the year.”

More than 300 AFL NSW games have been cancelled or postponed due to wet weather in Sydney this year, with round five scheduled for this weekend.

“Extended rain events can be challenging to community Australian football clubs in Sydney eager to take to the field,” an AFL NSW/ACT spokesman said.

Hall said unplayable grounds had forced sporting codes to play additional games early in the season or ask councils to let them play later in the year, “but this can be challenging with the transition to summer sports and the need for remedial works for fields”.

Sport NSW’s 2022 Playing Catch Up Report found there was a “sports facilities crisis”, with sports failing to find enough space to run their competitions.

“Some children who are keen to take part in sport are being turned away because of a lack of facilities,” the report said. “Other families face long trips to simply compete in their chosen activity.”

Local councils say they close sports grounds to preserve playing surfaces and prevent injuries, but sporting officials say poor maintenance, overused facilities and aversion to risk are also to blame.

However, Sydney councils have faced strident opposition from residents over the use of artificial turf triggered by environmental concerns.

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