There will be no junior soccer for Gunnedah-based players this weekend while it remains unclear when the sport resumes due to local flooding.
Gunnedah and District Soccer Association (GDSA) secretary Alli Gourley said it was hoped there could be play next weekend (August 16-17), with a mixed junior gala day planned for Gunnedah on August 17.
With the Geoff Morgan Playing Fields having been flooded since early this week, Gourley said it wasn’t just a matter of the water receding and the fields drying out.
“We also need to consider the condition of the playing surface and any other risk to the health of players, given the potential for contamination/waste in flood water, along with volunteer/committee availability,” she said.
Gourley said the GDSA would need to rely heavily on volunteers to clean up and prepare the fields to enable the return of junior soccer.
“The area will need to be washed down and any debris removed,” she said.
“Lawns will likely need to be mowed and lines painted on the fields.
“Fences will also need to be cleaned.”
Gourley said “once we know more”, the club would seek volunteers such as players’ parents, grandparents and friends to help out at the fields for a working bee.
Gourley said a few of the club’s regular volunteers and committee members had also been impacted by the flooding.
Gunnedah’s third and fourth grade senior teams, meanwhile, are waiting to see when they return in the Friday night Tamworth-based competition after the Gipps Street Sporting Complex was also flooded earlier this week.
