Spring play will be touch and go again this year.
The soggy season, with all its rain and snowmelt, has already closed local playing fields down once. The City of Vernon issued an alert Monday that fields would be closed, but they were back in play Tuesday.
“During periods of wet weather, city staff monitor field conditions to confirm that they are safe to use and to ensure that damage to the playing surfaces does not occur,” said James Rice, public works manager. “Our goal is to provide as much play time for residents as possible while still ensuring the fields remain intact. A saturated field can be damaged very quickly and can take weeks to repair.”
Fields were closed five times last spring, which had a major impact on local sports. Since soccer, baseball and many other sports get underway in the spring, the wet conditions can leave players on the sidelines.
Let’s cross our fingers that’s not the case today as hundreds of Vernon School District students are taking part in the cross country run at Marshall Field, followed by another meet next Wednesday at the DND grounds and then the following week in Lumby.
The city conducts morning inspections of field conditions and says it will issue a press release indicating when a field is closed by noon of that day. Residents and users are encouraged to check daily on Recreation Vernon’s web page at www.vernon.ca/parks-recreation or on Twitter at www.twitter.com/vernonrec to confirm current field closures.
“We thank you for your patience and assistance in keeping our sports fields safe and usable,” said Rice.
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