WET WINTER HIGHLIGHTS DIRE GROUND SHORTAG

Why don't the councils look to  lay new pitches on unused ground. They could take the posts from the worst pitchs. Maidstone Park many years ago used to have 2 Hockey fields and 1 Soccer pitch on it ,now the part I'm talking about only has 1 rugby field which is hardly used, surely around the greater Wgtn area there are places where they could get some temporary pitchs to allow more games to be completed. This maybe from left field but what about changing the direction of the fields on a couple of parks to make use of better parts of the ground.

Back fields at Rongotai College would be a good spot. 

Maybe need a land purchase, but you could fit three full size pitches in there at least, share with the school so they get access, no wiping out grounds that are currently used by clubs but you get more pitches when needed.

I wonder if you could you play cricket on it ?  You could still leave room for a pitch on some harder base in the middle like there is there now.

IIRC, there used to be 3 pitches on the Exhibition patch. And I'm not sure, but it seems to be co-owned by the school and WCC anyway. It has the WCC signage at the playground/beach end.

2 last time I was over there though.

If there were artifical pitches how would people feel aout playing some grades on Sunday or even during the week for some of the lower grades. This would enable us to make maxium use of the grounds.

not sure if this has been discussed, but perhaps the council could look at asking a few of the schools around the region if fields could be used? obviously will need to be a certain cost but hell I'd actually be happy to pay money on a saturday, just seems to be that the college and school grounds get nowhere near as much usage as what a normal football field would?

Monkeyboy, having just been at St Pats Silverstream today their fields are no better than many of the council fields.

Nightz is right

Being on the two HIBS fields I can say that in certain weeks, they can have up to 6 games a week over the two, plus about 4-6 trainings on them. That's a pretty well used couple of fields

Football as a summer sport...Why not. Train in winter, play competition in summer.  Dedicate some grounds to cricket and some to football. At least players would be able to develop football skills rather than mud wrestling. I know it wouldn't be as simple as that but no one seems to be getting much game time these days.

Interesting idea, but would be really quite difficult I think.

I play cricket and football so would have to choose which one to continue (not that it'd be a hard choice, football by a long way....but it's still nice to have the option).

Equally they are hardly enough grounds for cricket as it is, you just need so much space. I can imagine there being issues with places like Kilbirnie (Easts cricket/Marist football), Kelburn and Anderson for Uni...etc.

Naenae

There are only a few football grounds that arent used for cricket. The likes of Karori Pk, Kilbirnie, Kelburn Pk, Nairnville, I think Miramar and Wakefield, are all cricket fields by summer.

Uh oh...New forum thread....CPL and CL players (playing in the summer) turning up to win promotion/save relegation for lower division teams

That's not really that unusual, happened in games I've played on at least 2 occasions. Lower divisions usually finish the season later than CL/CPL/Cap1 because of more cancellations, so I'd guess it probably happens reasonably often.

CL would have a completely different landscape anyway as Hawkes Bay, NCR and the Wellington clubs would all be without NZFC players.

Why couldn't competition twilight games be scheduled in summer, weekdays and weekends, then it wouldn't interfere so much with cricket??
 

They shouldn't be dropped after their entire season is finished I don't think- though obviously CL and even sometimes CPL have teams who finish much later due to good chatham cup runs which means other teams in the same grade who finish earlier can drop players.  And I suppose teams cards don't always get checked...

But I was just imagining almost entire teams in some lower divisions possibly being made up of CL players...

It could possibly be done. However I dont think any Wgtn grounds are dual purpose (you couldnt play cricket and football on them in the same season) so you would be left with only certain grounds available for football. Home and away would become difficult. I know if Marist played at summer we would need a new home ground (not that we get to play at Kilbirnie much anyway but...)

I confess to knowing nothing about senior football and how it relates to other regions but, if Juniors played their competition in summer they would be easier to accommodate in conjunction with cricket grounds (smaller pitches or a few dedicated grounds). This would save the pitches for senior grades in winter.
I would rather watch my juniors play on a balmy evening or Saturday than have them play in the rain and mud as they do now. It would still clash with summer sport but I think it would encourage juniors who are actually interested in football because they can actually develop their skills and play as they should.  I mean dribble and pass rather than chip and slide. 
If the junior competition was in summer then the grades that were old enough to play inter regional competitions would've played together for months, be match fit and more competitive regionally.
Council $ for developing grounds would go further if we were not trying to accommodate all footballers across all age groups in winter.  

its a nice idea, but i cant see Cricket wellington or whoever runs the show letting football steal their juniors in the summer(revenue issues). it also takes away the idea that football is indeed a winter sport. Also having been young(like everyone) i enjoyed the variety of sport that i could choose from and knowing that certain sports were played(or not as this winter highlights) at certain times. it would probably be quite hard to make a kid at age 12 or younger definitively choose their sport. Too many kids wouldnt want to sacrifice their cricket(it is our national summer game in anycase) or any other summer sport to only concentrate on football, especially when many children play sport for the fun, and not competitive, factor. 

As a goalkeeper of solid build I'd have to say no to summer footbal. It hurts enough in preseason at it is. On a decent surface its fine but what pitches have enought grass in the goalmouth after a few games. I'd have to retire for a thrid (or is it fourth) time.

No need to make major changes just because we have had 1 very wet winter. Its not like this every year.

we dont get cancelled this often every year, but there are always cancellations, we always play in mud late in the season, and training post June is a lottery outdoors. plus, its got to the point where there is no possibility for football growth. there is no more room, and some teams even missed out this year.

We do need to make changes. Summer footy is not the solution though.

Junior cricket participation is already falling through the floor.  I suspect that Softball will be fast overtaking them.

2003
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I like "soccermums' suggestion about Junior football through summer.  It has merit, although unfortunatley I would suggest it would quickly fall into the "too hard" basket for those who need to make it happen.  The benefits for grounds is self explanatory, I also like the idea of young players learning to 'play' football on paddocks without catching mud fever. I agree crickets numbers are dropping for juniors, and I wonder what kind of reaction to a summer league for kids would evoke?

Football moving to summer is completely unviable, at senior level there aren't the grounds and at junior level there is cricket/tennis/softball and at that age there is no way kids should be made to choose!

Couldn't disagree more.  With cricket/tennis/softball kids are already expected to choose.  At least football would give tham a 90 min sport option over a 1/2 days commitment from the other 3 options.  And nobody is suggesting Seniors move to summer, all that is being suggested is juniors.

Warning: Rant follows (my longest post yet)

It does seem somewhat poetic or ironic (ill go on the Alanis Morrisette Website later to see if it is actually ironic) that the first season after Wgtn's first proffesional football team, with all the hoopla and groundswell in grassroots football that entailed, that we have the most disrupted season in recent memory.

Councils and Cap Football seem to be shouldering a lot of the blame and although this may seem justified, the fickle weather is not controlled out of Memorial HQ or Wakefield St. Yes Councils should plan and plant better in the off seasons (whenever that is) but they are mostly working to 5 -10 year plans, and suddenly they are expceted to cope with a sudden surge in interest, brought about by increased exposure of the beautiful game in Welly.

Much resource and time has gone into supporting the Phoenix by Councils and Cap Football and yet they still seem to be slammed for the inevitable problems this has thrown up- what do Wgtn football fans want? a proffesional team which demands resources and money or that same time and money to be spent on developing the game at the grass roots level (answer-probably both).

We are fast approaching the American model of prof. sports that has contributed much to the decline in physical actitivity and obesity in all ages in the states, where people would rather watch athletes perform on their behalf than play the sport themselves (witness the increase in elite rugby matches compared to the decline in the participation). a hypothetical question really but would you rather spend a season at the ROF watching the phoenix play, or a season playing your self.

For me it would be a no-brainer.-i'd prefer to play. I returned to football after the obligitory teenage physical activity wasteland, i was drawn back by informal kickarounds with the united nations at Nairn Park, where fields were never booked, goals were jumpers and rain was mostly ignored.

The Nix are a huge boon to football in wgtn, and NZ, but don't forget why we love the game- becase its easy and fun to play in any shape or form. By all means blame the Councils and Cap footy for the current situation, but then don't be hypocritical when you prasie the rise of the Phoenix. Councils and Cap Footy made a choice to support them- often more closely than you would realise, and this decision has been at a cost to the common place park plodder.

Rant over.any one fancy a kickabout?

you do know me! i have been known to take things to heart on occasion

I don't think the Nix are neccessarily a major factor, but have contributed in some respects to the increase in playing numbers- hard to quantify however- we are all fooptball fans and of course advocate for more fields, better facilities etc- my rant was to raise a point that every policy decision neccesitates a trade off, some opportunity cost and i was simply putting out a hypothetical poll to see if anyone else would share my decision-
to play or to watch others play?
Salmon072008-08-02 16:52:13

Hey..maybe the grounds are on the improve...there's a proviso to the "All Wellington City Council sports grounds are closed"....

<!--STATUS GOES IN HERE--> <!-- <p>All Wellington City Council sports grounds are open.</p> -->

All Wellington City Council sports grounds are closed except girl's football on the following grounds:

• Hataitai velodrome
• Wilton Park
• Raroa Park
• Alex Moore park (ground 2)

Was in Auckland today and saw something I haven't seen in a while. Football pitches with grass on them. And lots of it too.

I haven't read all the replys, but this is not a new problem, and has been going on for years. (bland statement!) If we're serious about playing the season without cancellations every year, Wgton need to develop 3 or 4 all weather soccer pitches, 2 in the Hutt, 2 in the Wgton/Porirua area, fully floodlit, change rooms the works. Fraser Park would be good start because you don't have a problem with the RMA, parking and residents. An ambitious project but would all the Wgton clubs be prepared to put politics aside (and the respective councils)and head down this path? This way you can play games midweek, all weekend and things will just tick along. Look at Hockey for example in Wgton, with a new facilty on Titahi Bay road. Are all the players prepared to pay $5 or $10.00 every time they take the field as a levy?
Every club here in Brisbane/Goldcoast has their own fully floodlit grounds (two) and sometimes 3 because they put the money they get into facilities. Capital Football need to get things rolling, if you don't ask you don't get, and this is the only way Football and the Council will beat this problem.